Simon Sheppard (activist)
Encyclopedia
Simon Guy Sheppard is a political activist from Hull
, England
, who runs a number of website
s promoting his far right
views; his main website contains many articles denouncing women, the multiracial society and Jews
, stating that these have negative effects upon Western society and for white males in particular.
He has been prosecuted and imprisoned three times for his views: in the Netherlands for Holocaust denial
in 1995, in the UK for inciting racial hatred
in 1999 and 2000 for a BNP election leaflet, and again in the UK between 2008 and 2011 on for publishing material on the Internet that was in breach of racial hatred legislation, after having been subject to a number of raids by police. He was released after serving less than half his sentence to a bail hostel on May 17, 2011, but is banned from accessing the Internet.
and even Andy Warhol
. Later, he went to study at Sussex University, obtaining a degree in mathematics
. He then became a writer and independent publisher, setting up his own company, the Heretical Press, distributing his self-published books.
The Heretical Press website at heretical.com contains an eclectic mixture of excerpts taken from Sheppard's books, stand-alone articles by Sheppard, work by his associate Steven Whittle (using the pen name
Luke O'Farrell), and many pieces of work by other writers whose work fits with Sheppard's ideas, along with miscellaneous bizarre entries. Subjects mentioned on the site include Sheppard's theories such as his own self-made "Procedural Analysis" concept, racial theories and stereotyping, Holocaust denial
and general antisemitism, the inferiority of women and opposition to women's rights
and feminism, the science behind sexual intercourse
and its biological
implications, and cannibalism
amongst other topics. Despite lacking relevant qualifications or membership of the British Psychological Society
, Sheppard presents himself as a psychologist and attempts to apply game theory
and evolutionary psychology
to the analysis of biological competition between the sexes and between different races, in a social Darwinistic sense. One particularly notable aspect of his theories is that he claims that it is the male instinct to be racist, because this has evolved as an evolutionary drive to try to prevent females, who are evolutionarily inclined to view alien males as having high biological fitness as they have penetrated a territory without being killed, from engaging in miscegenation
in the presence of males of other races, which would be genetically disadvantageous to the males as a group.
One of his books, The Tyranny of Ambiguity, details his life in Amsterdam
in the early 1990s and his interactions with other people, and his attempts to view the events in the book in terms of his own personal theories of psychology
. Another of his books, All About Women, identifies Sheppard's self-created concept of "Big Sister" (analogous with Orwell
's concept of Big Brother
) as consisting of all groups within society that express "female characteristics" such as being dishonest, to conspire
, and to manipulate
, and that such groups include women, non-Whites, and Jews.
Sheppard was also the host of Redwatch
, a site used by far right
activists, that publishes photographs, names, addresses and telephone numbers of anti-racist campaigners from across the political spectrum. Redwatch also contained a section called "Noncewatch" (nonce
being English slang for a paedophile) containing details of individuals, including politicians and political activity, whom the site accused of paedophilia.
for distributing racist election literature on behalf of the British National Party
. He was expelled from the BNP the same day (though not Hannam, who remains a senior administrator in the party). On 14 June 2000, Sheppard was convicted at Hull Crown Court of publishing or distributing racially inflammatory material. According to his website, Sheppard has been banned from every public library in Hull, Hull University and Hull College
"merely for expressing opinions". In 2005, Sheppard's house was raided by police following complaints about allegedly racist material published by his Heretical Press.
In 2008, Sheppard was arrested in the UK and charged with using his website to circulate "material likely to incite racial hatred". The website is based in Torrance, California, so Sheppard rejects English legal jurisdiction over the published writings. Sheppard and his associate Steven Whittle absconded from bail, took a ferry to Ireland, and flew to Los Angeles, USA. After they demanded political asylum, the pair were put into Santa Ana Jail.
On 24 March 2009, the two appellants addressed the California court themselves before Judge Rose Peters. On 5 April 2009, with reasons reserved, Sheppard and Whittle were denied asylum, upon which the former stated that they would not appeal, and they were deported and returned to prison in the United Kingdom on 17 June 2009. On 10 July 2009, Sheppard was sentenced to 4 years and 10 months in prison, and his co-defendant, Whittle, was convicted of five similar offences. These sentences for publishing material on the Internet were described as "groundbreaking" by Adil Khan, representing Humberside police, whilst Sheppard's lawyer, Adrian Davies
, said in his defence during the trial that he had come from a "very troubled background" and revealed that his mother had committed suicide, whilst noting that Sheppard was an intelligent man who had problems with authority
, especially the police
. In January 2010, Sheppard and Whittle lost an appeal against their convictions, but succeeded in having their sentences reduced slightly.
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, who runs a number of website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
s promoting his far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
views; his main website contains many articles denouncing women, the multiracial society and Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, stating that these have negative effects upon Western society and for white males in particular.
He has been prosecuted and imprisoned three times for his views: in the Netherlands for Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
in 1995, in the UK for inciting racial hatred
Inciting racial hatred
Incitement to racial or ethnic hatred is a crime under the laws of a number of countries.-United Kingdom:Under the Law of the United Kingdom, "incitement to racial hatred" was established as an offence by the provisions of §§ 17-29 of the Public Order Act 1986. It was first established as a...
in 1999 and 2000 for a BNP election leaflet, and again in the UK between 2008 and 2011 on for publishing material on the Internet that was in breach of racial hatred legislation, after having been subject to a number of raids by police. He was released after serving less than half his sentence to a bail hostel on May 17, 2011, but is banned from accessing the Internet.
Career and work
Sheppard initially had a career as a recording engineer in the music industry, claiming to have met such famous figures as Robert FrippRobert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
and even Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
. Later, he went to study at Sussex University, obtaining a degree in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
. He then became a writer and independent publisher, setting up his own company, the Heretical Press, distributing his self-published books.
The Heretical Press website at heretical.com contains an eclectic mixture of excerpts taken from Sheppard's books, stand-alone articles by Sheppard, work by his associate Steven Whittle (using the pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
Luke O'Farrell), and many pieces of work by other writers whose work fits with Sheppard's ideas, along with miscellaneous bizarre entries. Subjects mentioned on the site include Sheppard's theories such as his own self-made "Procedural Analysis" concept, racial theories and stereotyping, Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
and general antisemitism, the inferiority of women and opposition to women's rights
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
and feminism, the science behind sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
and its biological
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
implications, and cannibalism
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
amongst other topics. Despite lacking relevant qualifications or membership of the British Psychological Society
British Psychological Society
The British Psychological Society is a representative body for psychologists and psychology in the United Kingdom. The BPS is also a Registered Charity and, along with advantages, this also imposes certain constraints on what the society can and cannot do...
, Sheppard presents himself as a psychologist and attempts to apply game theory
Game theory
Game theory is a mathematical method for analyzing calculated circumstances, such as in games, where a person’s success is based upon the choices of others...
and evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology is an approach in the social and natural sciences that examines psychological traits such as memory, perception, and language from a modern evolutionary perspective. It seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations, that is, the functional...
to the analysis of biological competition between the sexes and between different races, in a social Darwinistic sense. One particularly notable aspect of his theories is that he claims that it is the male instinct to be racist, because this has evolved as an evolutionary drive to try to prevent females, who are evolutionarily inclined to view alien males as having high biological fitness as they have penetrated a territory without being killed, from engaging in miscegenation
Miscegenation
Miscegenation is the mixing of different racial groups through marriage, cohabitation, sexual relations, and procreation....
in the presence of males of other races, which would be genetically disadvantageous to the males as a group.
One of his books, The Tyranny of Ambiguity, details his life in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
in the early 1990s and his interactions with other people, and his attempts to view the events in the book in terms of his own personal theories of psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
. Another of his books, All About Women, identifies Sheppard's self-created concept of "Big Sister" (analogous with Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
's concept of Big Brother
Big Brother (1984)
Big Brother is a fictional character in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. He is the enigmatic dictator of Oceania, a totalitarian state taken to its utmost logical consequence – where the ruling Party wields total power for its own sake over the inhabitants.In the society that Orwell...
) as consisting of all groups within society that express "female characteristics" such as being dishonest, to conspire
Conspiracy (civil)
A civil conspiracy or collusion is an agreement between two or more parties to deprive a third party of legal rights or deceive a third party to obtain an illegal objective....
, and to manipulate
Psychological manipulation
Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics. By advancing the interests of the manipulator, often at the other's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative,...
, and that such groups include women, non-Whites, and Jews.
Sheppard was also the host of Redwatch
Redwatch
Redwatch is a British website associated with members of the far-right British People's Party. It publishes photographs of, and personal information about, alleged far left and anti-fascist activists. It typically targets activists in political parties, advocacy groups, trade unions and the media...
, a site used by far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
activists, that publishes photographs, names, addresses and telephone numbers of anti-racist campaigners from across the political spectrum. Redwatch also contained a section called "Noncewatch" (nonce
Nonce (slang)
In the United Kingdom and Australia, the term nonce is a slang word used to refer to a sex offender and/or child sexual abuser...
being English slang for a paedophile) containing details of individuals, including politicians and political activity, whom the site accused of paedophilia.
Trouble with the law
On 8 June 1999, Sheppard and David Hannam were arrested in HullKingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
for distributing racist election literature on behalf of the British National Party
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
. He was expelled from the BNP the same day (though not Hannam, who remains a senior administrator in the party). On 14 June 2000, Sheppard was convicted at Hull Crown Court of publishing or distributing racially inflammatory material. According to his website, Sheppard has been banned from every public library in Hull, Hull University and Hull College
Hull College
Hull College is a further education College in Hull, England. The enrollment of around 28,000students makes it one of the largest schools of its type in the United Kingdom...
"merely for expressing opinions". In 2005, Sheppard's house was raided by police following complaints about allegedly racist material published by his Heretical Press.
In 2008, Sheppard was arrested in the UK and charged with using his website to circulate "material likely to incite racial hatred". The website is based in Torrance, California, so Sheppard rejects English legal jurisdiction over the published writings. Sheppard and his associate Steven Whittle absconded from bail, took a ferry to Ireland, and flew to Los Angeles, USA. After they demanded political asylum, the pair were put into Santa Ana Jail.
On 24 March 2009, the two appellants addressed the California court themselves before Judge Rose Peters. On 5 April 2009, with reasons reserved, Sheppard and Whittle were denied asylum, upon which the former stated that they would not appeal, and they were deported and returned to prison in the United Kingdom on 17 June 2009. On 10 July 2009, Sheppard was sentenced to 4 years and 10 months in prison, and his co-defendant, Whittle, was convicted of five similar offences. These sentences for publishing material on the Internet were described as "groundbreaking" by Adil Khan, representing Humberside police, whilst Sheppard's lawyer, Adrian Davies
Adrian Davies
Adrian Davies is a barrister and a member of Lincoln's Inn, London. He was formerly a solicitor with the magic circle firm, Slaughter and May...
, said in his defence during the trial that he had come from a "very troubled background" and revealed that his mother had committed suicide, whilst noting that Sheppard was an intelligent man who had problems with authority
Authority
The word Authority is derived mainly from the Latin word auctoritas, meaning invention, advice, opinion, influence, or command. In English, the word 'authority' can be used to mean power given by the state or by academic knowledge of an area .-Authority in Philosophy:In...
, especially the police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
. In January 2010, Sheppard and Whittle lost an appeal against their convictions, but succeeded in having their sentences reduced slightly.
External links
- The Heretical Press, Sheppard's personal website.