Terror suspect accused of plotting to kill at Pride event comes out as bi during trial
Prosecutors have described him as a ‘white supremacist’ with a ‘deep-seated hatred’ of gay people.
A terror suspect accused of plotting to kill at a Pride event has come out as bisexual.
Ethan Stables, 20, has denied an terrorism attack on attendees at the New Empire pub in Barrow.
Terror suspect allegedly planned murder at Pride
Police told the court he planned to murder people at the LGBTI event with a machete.
The only way he was stopped was after he told people about it on Facebook, police said at Leeds Crown Court.
Prosecutors described him as a ‘white supremacist’ who had a ‘deep-seated hatred’ of gay people.
‘I’m going to walk in with a fucking machete and slaughter every single one of the gay bastards,’ he allegedly said.
The jury has seen a video of Stables saying ‘gays look nicer on fire’ as he burned a rainbow flag.
Coming out as bi
Stables then revealed he had sexual experiences with men.
He said in court he was scared to reveal his sexuality because his parents would be ‘disgusted’ and ‘ashamed’.
He told the jury: ‘I am disgusted and ashamed at myself for what I said. I just wish I could turn the clock back. I’m sorry.’
Stables’ godfather Phillip Loveless, who is gay, said he did not believe Stables to be homophobic.
‘I felt he did go off on paranoid fantasies. He would get very fixated on certain ideas,’ he said.
‘On one level it seemed totally bizarre (when he was arrested) but on another level we had all been waiting for something to happen.
Telling people on Facebook
On a Nazi-themed Facebook group, Stables allegedly told members he planned to murder people at the pub.
One woman, from Staffordshire, spotted the messages from the neo-Nazi and contacted the local police.
Stables was caught close to the pub, at around 10pm, by Cumbria Police.
Detectives say it was likely this was his last act of reconnaissance before intending to return later with weapons.
They later found a machete, an explosive substance, and Nazi regalia including a swastika armband at his home, the court heard.
The trial continues.
Words by Joe Morgan
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Originally published at www.gaystarnews.com on January 31, 2018.
