Thirteen men stand proudly against a backdrop of jagged rocks on a snowy hilltop. Carrying backpacks and wearing boots, helmets, hats and gloves, they pose for a photograph to mark their ascent. It would be a scene familiar to any climbing enthusiast, if not for one glaring detail: every member of the group is performing a Nazi salute. This was White Stag Athletic Club (WSAC), a fitness group for which racism, homophobia and white skin were conditions of entry. New recruits were required to answer questions such as: “Are you Jewish? Are you Muslim? Are you homosexual? What are your views on race mixing?” They were vetted by the club’s founder and leader, a South Yorkshire prison officer and “unashamed white supremacist” who called himself ‘Sarge’. ‘Sarge’, real name Ashley Podsiad-Sharp, was jailed for eight years last week after being convicted of a terrorism charge for possessing a neo-Nazi “murder manual”.
via bbc: Inside the neo-Nazi fitness club run by a Yorkshire prison officer