Category Archives: Far right racists

Dewsbury EDL supporter convicted of racially aggravated threatening behaviour

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A man who had been drinking set fire to a woman’s hair and racially abused a passer-by, a court was told. David Lee Matthews, 23, of Windsor Road, Shaw Cross, Dewsbury, caused a disturbance outside Dewsbury Bus Station.

Matthews approached Charlotte Allison, who he knew, and singed her hair with a cigarette lighter. He then hurled racist abuse at an Asian man nearby, Kirklees magistrates were told. Miss Carole Lawford, prosecuting, told how Matthews approached Ms Allison near Heron Foods in South Street and began abusing her.

He then saw Mohammed Imran nearby and shouted racist abuse at him. He chanted the name of the English Defence League and yelled: “I am racist and proud of it.”

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Breivik’s toxic legacy

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Aslak Sira Myhre argues that Norway has failed to learn the political lesson’s from Anders Breivik’s terorist atrocities:

… the debate on Islam and Islamophobia has hardened rather than softened after 22/7. In the aftermath of the killings, some anti-Islamic organisations and websites showed remorse, but that phase passed, and now the venom is even stronger.

Those who insist that Islam poses a threat to Europeans and Norwegians, and claim the past 1,500 years is a story of a never-ending clash between a Christian civilisation and Islamic barbary, are just as insistent as before. Instead of opening a door to decent debate, the terror has cemented divisions. Both rightwing politicians, and anti-islamic webpages sites like document.no has after some months of afterthought return to business as usual. Norwegian newspapers still have to shut down their web debates due to verbal abuse every time an article or comment on Islam or immigration is published.

Guardian, 17 April 2012

BNP returns to inciting hatred against Muslims in Pendle

Posted on by Bob Pitt

BNP Colne leaflet

This the sort of campaign literature the British National Party is putting out for next month’s local elections. The leaflet reproduced above is being circulated in Nelson, Lancashire, where the BNP has two representatives on Pendle Council, one of whom – Adam Grant – is up for re-election. His fellow fascist councillor, Brian Parker, has been in trouble before, in 2008 and 2009, over inciting hatred with anti-Muslim flyers.

The leaflet is illustrated with a photo of the annual Mawlid procession in Nelson and demands whether “a similar procession celebrating a Christian Saint’s day” would be allowed in Saudi Arabia. It seems to have escaped the BNP’s attention that until recently the celebration of Mawlid was itself banned by the Saudi authorities on the grounds that it is heretical. But then ignorance is the bedrock of bigotry, isn’t it?

EDL leader inadvertently starts comedy Twitter hash tag

Posted on by Bob Pitt

An attempt to whip up anti-Islamic sentiment by the leader of the English Defence League has spectacularly backfired on Twitter on Monday.

On Sunday night, EDL leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, tweeted a complaint about a picture of a “mosque” on the Twitter front page (it was actually the Taj Mahal), highlighting the image as another example of #creepingsharia.

However, rather than stoke far-right feeling, the Luton-based activist unintentionally started a comedy twitter trend.

Amid traffic about the start of Anders Breivik’s trial in Oslo, the Twitterati hijacked the tag, with #creepingsharia being blamed for everything from “algebra on the curriculum” to “no ham left in the fridge”.

Huffington Post, 16 April 2012

Update:  See also “How Twitter users turned the tables on the English Defence League”, Comment is Free, 16 April 2012

Anders Breivik pleads not guilty at Norway murder trial

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Breivik arriving at courtThe man who carried out bomb and gun attacks in Norway last year which left 77 people dead has pleaded not guilty at the start of his trial in Oslo.

Anders Behring Breivik attacked a youth camp organised by the governing Labour party on the island of Utoeya, after setting off a car bomb in the capital. He told the court he “acknowledged” the acts committed, but said he did not accept criminal responsibility.

If the court decides he is criminally insane, he will be committed to psychiatric care; if he is judged to be mentally stable, he will be jailed. In the latter case, he faces a sentence of 21 years, which could be extended to keep him behind bars for the rest of his life.

Dressed in a dark suit, Breivik smiled as he entered the courtroom and a guard removed his handcuffs. He then gave a closed-fist salute. He later told the lead judge, Wenche Elisabeth Arntzen: “I do not recognise the Norwegian courts. You have received your mandate from political parties which support multiculturalism.”

BBC News, 16 April 2012

See also “Norway mass killer bent on turning trial into ‘circus'”,Reuters, 15 April 2012

EDL supporter handed himself in to police over Kingston mosque attack

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Kingston mosque attack suspect 2A man wanted by police in connection with a racist attack on Kingston Mosque has handed himself in to police after a Surrey Comet story.

The man surrendered at Kingston police station just days after this newspaper published a front page appeal for more information on the people police wanted to speak to about the mosque attack.

The man, photographed on a mobile phone holding a long stick in East Road, near the mosque, was bailed to return to the police station at a later date while investigations continue.

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Ex-EDL group proclaims white supremacist politics

Posted on by Bob Pitt

nwi oldham banner

The North West Infidels, a breakaway faction from the English Defence League, have proudly announced the adoption of a new banner by their Oldham branch. No doubt they will be hearing shortly from Iron Maiden‘s lawyers.

Note that this group of ex-EDL activists, unlike the leaders of the organisation from which they sprang, have no hesitation in openly declaring their real ideological inspiration.

Far-right anti-Muslim network on rise globally as Breivik trial opens

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Counter Jihad Movement coverThe international network of counter-jihadist groups that inspired Anders Behring Breivik is growing in reach and influence, according to a report released on the eve of the Norwegian’s trial.

Far-right organisations are becoming more cohesive as they forge alliances throughout Europe and the US, says the study, with 190 groups now identified as promoting an Islamophobic agenda.

The report, by anti-racism group Hope Not Hate, states that since the 33-year-old’s killing spree, the counter-jihad movement – a network of foundations, bloggers, political activists and street gangs – has continued to proliferate.

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Stoke-on-Trent BNP leader Michael Coleman on race charge

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Stoke Patriot

BNP leader Michael Coleman has appeared in court on racism charges. The former councillor will go on trial accused of causing racial harassment over a seven-month period. It is understood the allegations relate to comments made on the defendant’s website.

The 45-year-old lost his Meir North seat on Stoke-on-Trent City Council in last May’s elections. But Coleman remains the controversial party’s chief organiser in the city and presented an award to Stoke-on-Trent’s BNP activist of the year during a Christmas party last December.

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Brighton: Anti-fascists organise against March for England

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Brighton demonstration against MfE
Demonstration against last year’s March for England

A “patriotic” march planned for Brighton has sparked calls for counter demonstrations. Right-wing group March for England is heading to the city next weekend, angering local anti-fascist organisations.

A new group calling themselves Stop the March for England wants city residents to disrupt the event on Sunday. Brighton Unite Against Fascism, the group that staged counter-demonstrations during previous March For England events, is planning a series of meetings this week to mobilise opposition.

Stop the March for England is calling for supporters to line the route of next Sunday’s march. Lou Kenton of Stop the March for England said: “We are calling for all locals to oppose the march and the racist, fascist ideals it promotes under the guise of patriotism. We want people to harangue and mock the march so that, together, we can drown out their racist message. We want people to line the route and tell the March for England exactly how welcome they are.”

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