Vaughn Dolphin, then 19, posted footage to a far-right Telegram group showing how he blew up his aunt’s Walsall home.
A white supremacist was convicted of terrorism charges after he blew up his family’s kitchen while making pyrotechnics.
Vaughn Dolphin, 19, called himself a “dangerous lunatic” and set fire to his aunt’s kitchen in Walsall, West Midlands.
He used the family workshop to create improvised explosives and a musket, police found.
His bedroom refrigerator included bomb-making chemicals, and the shed had a Waffen SS symbol.
Dolphin had downloaded bomb-making documents onto a USB stick in a folder named “Boogaloo” – a reference to a race conflict white supremacists intended to start to seize control of the government.
The workshop contained nitrocellulose, a shotgun cartridge propellant, and an aluminium tube with a hole.
Dolphin sent several video clips to the Segregation Waggon. A far-right Telegram group, showing his kitchen engulfed with smoke on June 14, 2018.
Wearing a gas mask, he was overheard saying, “The scoundrel mixture prematurely detonated, oh my God.
“That was a terrible notion, so terrible that the carbon monoxide alarm went off. I began gagging, so I was forced to put this on. Oh my goodness.”
In another video, he manufactured “homemade fuses” by boiling liquid on the stove. The prosecutor, Mathew Brook, stated that Dolphin was “clearly mixing chemicals in his kitchen.”
Dolphin utilized Telegram, a secure messaging application, which was organized into a subdirectory titled “right-wing” containing channels such as Pol/4chan, Hitler Group, and Segregation Waggon.
“It’s a shame it doesn’t have the music,” he commented after downloading a video of the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand, in which Brent Tarrant murdered 51 people.
Dolphin used the online username Memento-Moti1488, which was a reference to a white supremacist slogan and the phrase “Heil Hitler.”
In one message, Dolphin boasted, “I am viewed as a dangerous lunatic by the majority”. And added, “When people get sick of Black Lives Matter, violence will erupt.” I will manufacture and sell weapons, but only to the Base side” – a reference to a far-right organization.
Two weeks after the explosion, the police interrogated Dolphin, who claimed he had been making powder from matches with a hammer, which resulted in a “louder bang than I expected” that alarmed the neighbors.
His interest in chemistry and the military was influenced by the fact that his grandfather had served in the military. He described himself as “libertarian” and “a little bit nationalist”
Dolphin told the jury he only visited extreme chatrooms because of loneliness.
The defence psychiatrist diagnosed him with autism spectrum condition based on social interaction, communication, and repeated hobbies.
Mr. Brook, however, told the jurors that Dolphin’s justifications were, among other things, “complete and utter nonsense.”
Dolphin, who is now 20 years old, was convicted of six counts of possessing items beneficial for terrorism, two counts of disseminating terrorist material, two counts of possessing explosive substances, and one count of possessing a firearm. He will receive a verdict later this month.
Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Payne, head of Counter Terrorism Policing in the West Midlands, stated, “Dolphin claimed to be interested in chemicals and military memorabilia, but he combined a toxic extremist mindset by sharing right-wing material online with the real-world acquisition of explosive material and homemade weapons.
“His mentality is that of a dangerous individual who is prepared to harm those who do not look like him or with whom he disagrees.”
