Italian raids discover plot to form new pro-Nazi party

Italian police have raided the homes of 19 people suspected of trying to create an “openly pro-Nazi, xenophobic and anti-Semitic” party, CNN reports.

The suspects weren’t taken into custody, according to authorities, but firearms Nazi propaganda about Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini were found in the raids.

Police said that the Anti-Mafia and Antiterrorism District of the Prosecutors Office of Caltanissetta has been investigating “extreme right-wing local militants” for the past two years, CNN reported on Friday.

The group reportedly wanted to create the “Italian National Socialist Workers’ Party,” with some members of the group creating a logo and creating a closed group chat named “Militia.”

It is believed that the group made contact with neo-Nazi groups in the U.K. and in Portugal. Additionally, one of the suspects spoke at a far-right conference in Lisbon, the network reports.

While several political parties in Italy subscribe to tenets of fascism, they don’t openly refer to themselves as fascists. Under Italian law, people can be arrested for making fascists salutes or for trying to resurrect the defunct Fascist Party.