British police have charged members of banned Neo-Nazi group National Action over an alleged plot to kill a British lawmaker.
Greater Manchester Police did not name the alleged target of the plot in its statement, but Labour Member of Parliament Rosie Cooper thanked the force for “keeping me, my staff and the public safe.”
“There remains an ongoing criminal investigation so it would not be appropriate for me to comment further,” she said in a statement.
Police arrested six men who have all been charged with “belonging to a proscribed organisation” contrary to the Terrorism Act.
Police said that one of those men, 31-year-old Christopher Lythgoe, has also been charged with “encouragement to commit murder”.
A 22-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been charged with “the intention of committing acts of terrorism contrary to section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006 and threats to kill.”
The men were due to appear in the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on Friday.
National Action became the first far-right group to be banned under Britain’s terror laws in December 2016. It is a criminal offense in the UK to be a member of the organization.
At the time it was proscribed, British Home Secretary Amber Rudd said, “National Action is a racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic organization which stirs up hatred, glorifies violence and promotes a vile ideology, and I will not stand for it.
“It has absolutely no place in a Britain that works for everyone.”
According to the British Home Office’s report into proscribed terror groups, National Action is “virulently racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic.”
The group came to prominence when far-right extremist Thomas Mair murdered British Member of Parliament Jo Cox in 2016.
The Labour MP was stabbed and shot by Mair, days before Britain voted on whether to remain in the European Union. Cox, 41, was a prominent proponent of remaining in the EU.
At his trial, Mair repeated group’s slogan: “Death to traitors, freedom for Britain.”
