Category Archives: English Defence League

Four cautioned over Facebook comments on Azhar Ahmed prosecution

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Four people have been cautioned over their response to Facebook comments about the Yorkshire Regiment soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

Azhar Ahmed, 19, of Fir Avenue, Ravensthorpe, denies making the initial offensive comments on the social networking site. Ahmed was charged under the Communications Act 2003 for remarks posted just two days after six British soldiers – including three from Huddersfield – died in Lashkar Gar in March this year.

The comments provoked outrage and many Facebook users posted angry replies. Some were subsequently investigated by police.

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Norwich pub bans EDL from meeting

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Norwich CasualsMeetings of the controversial English Defence League have been banned at a Norwich pub after a string of complaints.

About 45 members of the group, which is associated with violent demonstrations, have met at the Marlpit pub in Hellesdon Road. No trouble was reported and another meeting was booked for last weekend. But after complaints about the meetings from an anti-EDL group, the pub’s owners, Enterprise Inns, banned the EDL and the meeting was cancelled.

A spokesman for Enterprise said the licensee had been “reminded of their obligations”. She said: “We have spoken to the publican, who we understand has instructed pub staff to ensure no further meetings of the English Defence League are hosted at the Marlpit pub.”

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Bournemouth councillor ‘sorry’ for Twitter comments on race

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Bournemouth councillor made a public apology for controversial online comments about the English Defence League.

Conservative Cllr Sue Anderson read out the apology at Tuesday’s full council meeting. The mum of four, who represents Moordown, had said “nobody else except the EDL stick up for the English”. She also tweeted to an account jointly run by a woman of Asian descent: “If you don’t like it here go back to where you came from.”

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Why try to take baby from EDL member but not from ‘terrorists’?

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Stella Evans posing with gunThe question is posed by Ted Jeory in the Sunday Express. The English Defence League member in question is one Toni Macleod, who claims she has now in fact left the EDL, though reportedly this is only because she’s joined the overtly neo-Nazi breakaway group the Infidels.

Thirty-five weeks pregnant, Macleod has been told by Durham County Council social services that she would pose a “risk of significant harm” to her baby and they want to put the child up for adoption. According Jeory, this is because they “fear the child would become radicalised with EDL views”.

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Netpol publish critical report into EDL policing

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Netpol Leicester reportNetpol has published a critical report into the policing of the EDL and Counter demonstrations of February 4th in Leicester. The report is a collation of the evidence and observations obtained by a team of community-based legal observers who spent the day monitoring the policing of both EDL and counter-demonstrations. The legal observers deployed were local volunteers trained by Netpol with support from The Race Equality Centre (TREC) and Highfields Centre.

The report criticises police handling of the demonstration, particularly the effort and resources the police and local authorities devoted to persuading the local community, particularly young people in the local community, not to attend counter demonstrations against the EDL. It also raises questions about the use of force, particularly the use of dog units against Muslim youth, and the restrictions on movement placed on the Muslim population, effectively making Leicester a ‘no-go’ area.

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Two arrested after EDL attack on Newcastle anti-Jubilee protestors

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Two men have been arrested after EDL members clashed with anti-jubilee protestors in a city centre flare-up.

Police launched an investigation after trouble broke out on Monday June 4 during a protest at the Monument, in Newcastle city centre, when firecrackers went off among a crowd of people. A teenage protestor suffered a slight injury and received hospital treatment before being discharged.

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Allowing EDL to march through Bristol is ‘best case scenario’, police claim

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A security operation costing up to £1m and involving 700 police officers is being organised ahead of an English Defence League (EDL) march in Bristol.

The EDL will hold the march on 14 July – the same day as the city’s gay community holds its annual Pride festival at College Green in the city. Police have said their aim is to ensure both events are trouble free and there is protection for the public. The police operation will involve drafting in officers from Yorkshire, south Wales and the south of England.

Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset Police Colin Port said: “The English Defence League will march and at the moment we are trying to make contact with the people who are going to protest against them. We’re going to open meetings because we don’t know what they’re going to do, but we want to work with them.”

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English Defence League in Rochdale

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Stephen Lennon with QuranThis weekend saw the English Defence League pouring into Rochdale to protest against what they believe was underlying cultural issues which saw nine men convicted last month for grooming under-age girls for sex.

EDL visited last year too in March, voicing concern over the same issue. But this time it was different. The arguments were more refined and directed. It wasn’t the usual rants that have been echoed by EDL members at national rallies: “extremist Islam is the problem”, or “Muslims want Shariah law”.

Outside Rochdale town centre, EDL leader, Tommy Robinson held the Quran and said, “This book legitimises the rape, prostitution and abuse of our daughters”. Crowds cheered him on as he continued to deplore what he referred to as a “7th century text”.

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