Jim Dowson
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James "Jim" Dowson (born September 1964) is a British Far-Right activist and founder of Britain First, a notorious anti-Islamic Hate Group. He has been associated with the Alt-Right.
Anti-abortion activism edit
Before entering politics, Dowson worked as a Calvinist minister, and was therefore intensely anti-abortion. He was also a member of the controversial Orange Order, and of a flute band accused of glorifying Ulster Defence Association member Michael Stone. He later left the Orange Order after an argument with the leadership, claiming the group was "filled with boozers and atheists" and started his own anti-abortion group named the UK Life League in 1999. He soon came under fire after he was accused of doxxing when he began uploading the personal details of sexual health workers on the Internet. He also came under fire after calling for people to carry out a Denial of service attack against the Northern Ireland Health Secretary Paul Goggins in response to his suggestion that abortion laws in Northern Ireland should be relaxed. Dowson was also responsible for organising anti-abortion protests, and was revealed to have been convicted of breach of the peace, criminal damage and possession of an offensive weapon.
Far-Right activism edit
At an unspecified date around 2007, Dowson joined the BNP, and was placed in charge of financial affairs, raising £4 million pounds for the group. He also set up a BNP call centre in Belfast, before being forced to leave in 2010 when he was accused of sexually assaulting a female member of the group, announcing his intention to start his own anti-Islam party.
In 2012, Dowson was revealed to be involved in Britain First by their rivals the English Defence League, who stated that they refused to associate with the group because Dowson was involved and they refused to associate with him. In 2014, he was publicly revealed as the man behind funding Britain First, and ultimately as the founder of the group. He soon resigned in July 2014 after Britain First's chairman Paul Golding introduced "mosque invasions", which Dowson regarded as "unacceptable and unchristian".
In 2012, Dowson was involved in protests held outside the Belfast City Hall after the city council voted to only fly the British Flag on seventeen designated days rather than all year round. In March 2013, he was arrested for his part in the protests and charged with assisting offenders and taking part in an unnotified public event. During all subsequent court appearances, he appeared dressed in Islamic clothing.
Dowson has essentially vanished from public life, although he has resurfaced several times with his new group the Knights Templar International, generally giving weaponry to extremist groups with which to hunt down asylum seekers. He is also allegedly in contact with Russian Alt-Right activist Aleksandr Dugin, and was responsible for founding the Patriot News Agency, a website responsible for distributing pro-Donald Trump materials on the Internet during the 2016 US Presidential election, including material falsely accusing his rival Hillary Clinton of being involved in "Satanism, Pedophilia, Murder and other conspiracies".
In May 2017, he was banned from Hungary after being classified as an "undesirable individual" following a crackdown on Far-Right extremism.