Category Archives: UK

EDL mob in mosque attack caught on CCTV, court hears

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Kingston anti-Muslim protest (4)
The protest that preceded the attack on the mosque

A rowdy, threatening mob that attacked Kingston Mosque with baseball bats and left worshippers inside in fear were caught on CCTV, a court has heard.

Nine men accused of the racially aggravated attack on the mosque on November 21, 2010, appeared at Kingston Crown Court on Tuesday, March 6, to deny the charges against them.

During the violence, 20 to 30 masked and hooded men waved pieces of wood, urinated in the foyer and laid bacon on a car and the mosque, the court heard. A bottle was thrown at a window and a liquid poured on a car, it was alleged.

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BNP and EDL hold joint protest in Burnley

Posted on by Bob Pitt

BNP EDL Burnley Crown CourtBritish National Party and English Defence League supporters held a protest outside Burnley crown court on Friday. More than 25 protesters gathered as Judge Beverley Lunt prepared to set a date for a child sex offence case.

Holding Union and St George’s flags and banners reading “protect children, fight grooming gangs”, protesters were monitored by around 20 police officers in and around the Hammerton Street court. Members of the BNP played music and speeches for more than two hours in front of TV news cameras and newspaper photographers.

Lancashire Telegraph, 5 March 2012

BNP leader Nick Griffin recently announced that the party had lifted its ban on co-operation with the EDL, while prominent EDL member Hel Gower has joined a Facebook group advocating unity with the BNP, so it will be interesting to see how this pans out.

Islamophobes relaunch campaign against Newham ‘mega-mosque’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Opposition to 9,500 capacity mosque and Islamic enclave of homes, shops and business units unveiled at recent site exhibition

This morning sees the launch of a new campaign against the proposed 9,500 capacity mega-mosque at West Ham, close to the site of the Olympic Stadium and Park.

At 6.30am volunteers from the MegaMosqueNoThanks campaign will start leafleting commuters at the nearby West Ham station and residents living in the area around the site of the proposed mosque. The campaign website www.MegaMosqueNoThanks.com will also be relaunched.

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Far-right supporters agree with armed attacks

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL Stoke (3)Significant numbers of far-right supporters in the UK consider violence and “armed conflict” a legitimate form of political expression, experts will warn this week.

The first audit into the attitudes and beliefs of Britain’s rightwing extremists, collated in a report by the thinktank Chatham House, will reveal that there is a “significant level of support” for planned violent attacks.

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Mayor of Tower Hamlets replies to Evening Standard

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Since being elected Mayor, I have stood shoulder to shoulder with leaders from all religious faiths, with the LBGT community and residents from all walks of life in our cosmopolitan borough in preventing far Right extremists from the British National Party and the English Defence League from tramping their way through the East End as Mosley and his Black shirts did in the 1930s. Sadly, the racists and bigots feed from, and re-print, much of the dangerous nonsense that is being promulgated in some quarters that somehow my administration is ‘Sharia law fringed’ or ‘Islamism-lite’. My religion is a private matter. But the kind of society I want to see mirrors that envisaged by Prince Charles. It is essentially where no one particular religion has hegemony; instead we have a community of faiths.

Lutfur Rahman responds to the Evening Standard witch-hunt against him, the main aim of which has been to discredit Ken Livingstone, Labour candidate for London mayor.

Lutfur says that the Standard initially agreed to allow him the right of reply but then withdrew that offer. So this piece appears in the Huffington Post.

Warsi’s call for the dominance of Christianity ignores that it’s Islam under threat

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Responding to the claim by Tory peer Sayeeda Warsi that Christianity is under attack from militant secularism, Rebecca Wainwright and Peter Allen examine recent campaigns against the construction of mosques in London.

They conclude: “Warsi’s call for a renewed dominance of Christian values relies on an assumption that they are under threat. The examples discussed here suggest that perhaps the opposite is more accurate: that Christianity continues to dominate expectations of faith buildings in Britain, something that is unlikely to change if the government continues with its anti-multiculturalist approach.”

Left Foot Forward, 3 March 2012

EDL member jailed for violence against police during Bradford protest

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL rioters BradfordA father-to-be has been jailed after he was caught on camera throwing lumps of brick or concrete at police lines during violent clashes at an English Defence League protest in Bradford city centre.

A judge heard yesterday that 28-year-old Michael Currie was the only person to have ended up at the city’s crown court following the disturbance in August 2010. Prosecutor Paul Gallagher told Recorder Peter Pimm 13 other people were arrested, but the majority had been dealt with by way of fixed penalty notices for disorderly conduct.

The court was shown aerial footage taken from a police helicopter of the protest, which took place at the Westfield Broadway building site. The judge then watched another recording which showed Currie throwing missiles towards officers after he and others in the crowd had scaled a hoarding surrounding the site.

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Three arrested as National Front protesters gather in Heywood

Posted on by Bob Pitt

NF Heywood protest

About 100 gathered in the Memorial Gardens, Heywood town centre, to hear speeches from National Front members at 1pm today. Some carried placards while others held union flags. The group had then wanted to march through the town centre but their request was refused by Greater Manchester Police.

A number of minor flashpoints saw two protesters arrested for public order offences. Earlier in the day a 49-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of committing racially-aggravated public order offences.

Manchester Evening News, 3 March 2012

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Man arrested over racist graffiti at King’s Lynn pub

Posted on by Bob Pitt

King's Lynn graffiti
Anti-Muslim graffiti being removed from the wall of the Queen’s Arms

Racially motivated graffiti has been daubed on a former Lynn pub which could become an Islamic community centre if plans are approved.

Police have arrested a 34-year-old Lynn man on suspicion of criminal damage to the Queen’s Arms pub in London Road, during the early hours of yesterday. The word “oink” was one of the words sprayed onto the side of the building.

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Posted in UK

Southport man sentenced after racist rant at takeaway owner

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Turkish Delight SouthportA young chef hurled racist abuse at a Turkish takeaway owner in a rant he said he was too drunk to remember.

In the barrage of insults against Erhan Yazgan’s race and faith, Darryl Moore, 22, declared: “I hate you and I hate Islamic people”. He continued his vile slurs at the owner of the popular Turkish Delight on Coronation Walk as his rants poured out onto the street outside the shop.

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