PUBLIC
Rowan Croft/Grand Torino, a former British soldier from Ballyboden, Dublin (approx 51 in 2021) emerges online in 2018 pushing the racist conspiracy theory called ‘the great replacement’ and establishes himself as social media influencer calling himself a citizen journalist. He visits towns to stoke hate against asylum seekers, collaborates with Gearoid Murphy, Gemma O’Doherty and others and continuously makes appeals for funding. Croft appears in photos with far-right activists DeirdreMcTucker/Damhnait McKenna, Lauren Southern, and Caolan Robertson who took a tour of Ireland late November 2018 traveling to Wicklow, Mayo and Donegal. Shortly after this tour there is an arson attack on a hotel destined to house asylum seekers in Moville, Donegal. Croft travels to Lesvos, Greece in March 2020, following the arrival of members of the German Identitäre movement to the region. Croft developed a large following on Facebook, Youtube and Twitter with videos ranging from interviews with members of various European far-right parties such as Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) and La Lega, to videos promoting the Q-Anon conspiracy theory, before being booted off in 2021 for repeated calls for violence. He is still active online on Telegram, Bitchute and other channels.