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‘Uneducated and unhappy’: How I fell down the Alt-Right pipeline and how Hitler's artwork helped me escape
7 May 2025, 08:14 | Updated: 7 May 2025, 10:17
“We can all be victim to being radicalised.”
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Young men across the UK are falling down the Alt-Right pipeline in increasing numbers. LBC has spoken with one such individual, unearthing how he got there - and how, exactly, he managed to escape.
Kelvin, 22, a trainee accountant from Warwickshire, admitted to being “red pilled” - a term which comes from the 1999 film The Matrix - which refers to someone who recognises a reality previously concealed from them.
He described how he “fell down the rabbit hole of not knowing who he was” at such a young and impressionable age.
He started getting involved in the Alt-Right online at the age of 15 and warned “we can all be victim to being radicalised”.
Kelvin, who grew up in Ghana, later moved to a small town where most of his friends and peers were white, which he said led to feelings of isolation and alienation.
He said growing up he “felt different” and liked less typical things like comic books and anime, which he felt didn’t align with his Black identity.
Kelvin said many people in the UK often told him “wasn’t Black enough” or “you’re not that Black” due to the things like the way he spoke, dressed and his passion for art. He said that people often “put him in a box”.
He also mentioned many of the more conservative ideas he had grown up with in Ghana seemed to align with the rhetoric he encountered in Alt-Right circles, particularly themes around White supremacy and homophobia.
Kelvin also said the Christian doctrine of materialism he grew up with also aided his descent into the Alt-Right with their inflated ideas about success and wealth.
As someone who always felt “business-minded”, he found himself drawn to the flashy images of cars, clothes, and watches posted by male influencers in these spaces.
‘Uneducated and unhappy’
Kelvin admitted he knew very little about the Alt-Right before he became involved, and was unaware of the dangers it presented.
He described his initial impression of the Alt-Right as being “quirky” and filled with people who were “a bit out there” and “said stuff you shouldn’t be saying.”
When probed about what drew him to Alt-Right spaces, Kelvin believes there's a link between insecurity and bigotry.
He said he wasn’t “secure” as a Black guy and admitted that at the time he was “insecure and unhappy”.
He shared that his mother often worked long hours, leaving him without anyone to talk to. At the same time, he found emotional validation from his friends within the Alt-Right.
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Kelvin admitted he “stumbled upon” Andrew Tate’s videos several years ago - long before Tate became the highly infamous figure he is today.
At the time, Kelvin believed Tate was “telling the truth,” noting that Tate often made generalised and oversimplified comments on controversial topics like immigration, which seemed to resonate at the time.
He also recalled thinking Andrew “must be doing something right” given the amount of wealth he had amassed.
But, Kelvin added he was “not at all surprised” when Tate was arrested in Romania in December 2022, later facing charges of rape, human trafficking, and forming an organised crime group to sexually exploit women.
“How have people not realised?” Kelvin said, emphasising that Tate was “always honest about his webcam business.”
In podcast appearances, interviews and social media posts since 2021, Tate said he employed women to make money for him by performing in webcam pornography, controlled their behaviour and evaded law enforcement.
He has also advertised content sold to teach people about how they can replicate his business model.
Kelvin added that “men can get away with insane stuff”, and that issues such as trafficking are “glossed over” or ignored in such online spaces.
‘Ignorant’
Kelvin said he was “nervous” around women, admitting he was ignorant about them.
“In the Alt-Right, they tell you that women only want rich men,” which led him to worry that he “didn’t have any money”.
When asked about what was the most extreme things he encountered in Alt-Right spaces, Kelvin said he was shocked by the denial of well-documented historical events.
He said Alt-Right spaces would say that “slavery was not that bad” and that Black people “victimise themselves”.
“There is so much about how the Holocaust didn’t happen and how Jews control the media.”
‘Brainwashed’
Kelvin said during his time in the Alt-Right, he started to dress and speak differently, adopting a persona he believed was how “other Black people should be.”
He also reflected on how his family and friends reacted to the changes in him as he was becoming "red-pilled."
One of his friends confronted him asking “What are you doing?” and told him he was “being brainwashed.”
But, Kelvin admitted that at the time, he was “not hearing it” and would deny everything. “I think what I think,” he told his friend.
Tipping point
Kelvin shared he eventually managed to unlearn these ideas after going to college and meeting a more diverse group of people.
He said meeting Black people from “all walks of life” forced him to challenge the caricatures he had internalised from bigotry within the Alt-Right.
He also spoke of getting involved in art and painting played a significant role in helping him, allowing him to become “more open-minded and expressive.”
He added there was much praise for Adolf Hitler’s artwork in Alt-Right spaces which always “felt weird” as the artwork was “not good”.
“It has no substance and no soul”.
He also read books which opened his mind about feminism and Black history which “tore down every belief I had”.
He said he had a moment of realisation when reading All About Love by bell hooks, where he admitted he “made a mistake”.
'Ashamed'
Reflecting on his past, Kelvin admitted he is “ashamed” of his former self.
He added he is “worried about others”, especially as it appears they’ve managed to “influence a generation”.
He is particularly concerned about the "facts over feelings" narrative and the teaching that being sympathetic makes you weak.
“The smartest people can fall into it too, all they need is to exploit a weakness, that could be how lonely you are, how close minded you are or even internalised prejudices.
He said he’s seen fully grown men fall into it and not because they’re not “mentally capable”.
“No one is too smart to be indoctrinated,” he warned. “A man that knows something knows they know nothing at all”.
He said people should recognise that we can all be victim to being radicalised and question everything we see or hear, especially if it’s being used to justify an atrocity.
In terms of the future, Kelvin believes the Alt-Right is “growing”.
He said figureheads in the movement like Elon Musk and Joe Rogan “pretend to be centrist” but use their massive platforms to push kids further into the Far-Right.
Given that young people are particularly impressionable, he believes education and “sharing stories” like his own are powerful tools in countering these dangerous ideologies.
Now, free from the grip of the Alt-Right and its toxic ideas, Kelvin shared that he is “much more happy.” He feels more accepting, open-minded, and expressive, and is pursuing his passion for painting and art as a hobby.
He added that, most importantly, he now feels like he can truly be himself.
