Milton Keynes mosque arson: Man charged

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Bletchley mosque arson

A 30-year-old man has been charged with arson and a “racially aggravated” offence after a fire at a mosque in Milton Keynes.

Thames Valley Police said a fire was started at the back of the mosque on Manor Road, Bletchley, at about 01:00 GMT on Saturday. Richard Bevington, of North Street, Bletchley, has been charged with arson with intent to endanger life and has been remanded in custody. No-one was hurt in the incident.

Mr Bevington has also been charged with a “racially and religiously aggravated section five public order offence”, possession of cocaine and possession of cannabis. He is due to appear at Milton Keynes Magistrates’ court on Monday.

The mosque was created out of a former pub two years ago.

BBC News, 9 March 2014

Update:  See “Man charged with arson of Milton Keynes mosque remanded in custody”, Milton Keynes MKWeb, 10 March 2014

The FN candidate with Nazi sympathies who wants to shoot Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Séverine Amelot Facebook post

Under Marine Le Pen’s leadership the Front National has been trying to present a more respectable face to French voters. Unfortunately for Le Pen, some of her supporters aren’t entirely on message.

L’Express has revealed that Séverine Amelot, a municipal council candidate for the FN-led Rassemblement Bleu Marine alliance in Nevers, has posted Facebook photos of herself under a swastika flag and wearing a shirt with a Waffen-SS emblem.

Another photo features Amelot in a t-shirt with an Odin Cross, standing next a cannon which she talks about using to “kill all that scum … on Friday when they are at prayer”.

Séverine Amelot Nazi

Swedish Defence League leader jailed

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Kamil Ryba, SDLThe anti-fascist publication Expo has reported that Kamil Ryba, head of the EDL’s sister organisation the Swedish Defence League, has been sentenced to six months in prison for threatening the staff at GT, the Göteborg edition of the Swedish daily Expressen.

Ryba turned up at the GT offices last December to protest against Expressen publishing the names of people who had anonymously incited racial hatred. He threw an egg and said he would come back with a knife next time. Ryba subsequently returned and left a package containing a knife and a copy of the Qur’an, which was addressed to the editors of Expressen and GT. The package was seen as a possible bomb threat and GT staff were forced to evacuate the building.

Ryba pleaded not guilty. According to GT, he claimed that by including a knife with the Qur’an he intended to convey that Islam is a violent ideology, not a religion. However, he was convicted of the offence of violating civil liberty, on the grounds that he had made threats that endangered freedom of expression. Ryba’s lawyer stated that he will appeal against the verdict.

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EDL hold flash demo against Islamic centre in Clacton-on-Sea

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL Clacton anti-mosque protestPolice have monitored a rally by the English Defence League in an Essex coastal town.

A spokesman for Essex Police said the force was not aware of the demonstration until an off-duty police and community support officer spotted some of those involved at Clacton’s rail station.

The 20-strong group occupied an area of Pier Avenue from around 1.50pm until the last demonstrator left at 5pm. “This has been finished and dealt with,” the spokesman said. “The 20 demonstrators raised a few flags. There were no scuffles and no arrests.”

A post put up on the EDL’s Clacton-on-Sea Facebook website said: “To everyone who helped us today and the public of this great British town. We are here for the public and we will never surrender!”

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Man arrested after arson attack on Milton Keynes mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Thames Valley Police has arrested a 30-year-old man in connection with an arson attack on a mosque in Milton Keynes.

Officers were called to the mosque in Manor Road, Bletchley, shortly before 1am this morning (8/3) after reports of a man seen acting suspiciously shortly before a fire was started at the rear of the building. Officers carried out enquiries at the scene which led to them arresting a man on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life shortly afterwards. No one was hurt in the incident. The man, who is from the Milton Keynes area, remains in police custody at this time.

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Plot to ‘take over’ and run schools on strict Islamic principles is described as ‘malicious fabrication’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Birmingham city council is investigating an alleged plot to oust headteachers in the city, replacing them with people who will run their schools on “strict Islamic principles”.

A letter, passed to the Birmingham city council late last year as well as various schools in the area, outlines a plan dubbed “Operation Trojan Horse” and claims up to four schools in the city have already been “taken over”. The West Midlands counter-terrorism unit said it was aware of the letter and was working with the council to identify whether a police investigation is warranted.

A copy of the undated and unsigned letter, seen by the Guardian, offers a five-step plan to take over schools in communities with large Muslim populations with the help of what it calls “hardline” parents who follow the strict Salafi branch of Islam. However one of the alleged plotters, Tahir Alam – a former chair of the education committee of the Muslim Council of Britain – told the Guardian on Friday evening that the letter was “a malicious fabrication and completely untrue”.

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Thatcham says ‘there’s no place for EDL here’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Newbury Weekly News EDL protest reportA demonstration in Thatcham town centre by English Defence League members and supporters has been condemned as “vigilantism”.

Newbury MP Richard Benyon condemned the incident at the weekend, saying: “In this country we don’t operate by the rule of the mob”. Meanwhile, shopkeepers and civic leaders told the far right organisation to “stay away from our town”.

For weeks, EDL members are said to have been leafleting and fly-posting in Thatcham. Matters came to a head last Friday evening when a group of EDL members and supporters, some claiming to hail from Bournemouth and Southampton, descended on Thatcham town centre.

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Right-wing extremism: Germany’s new Islamophobia boom

Posted on by Bob Pitt

German anti-mosque placardAcross Germany, right-wing organizations are using anti-Islam rhetoric to further their ideas – and finding a receptive audience. Now legal experts are debating whether it’s time for a new kind of hate-crime legislation.

Der Spiegel reports that the rise of right-wing Islamophobic organisations like Die Freiheit, Pro Deutschland, Pax Europa, Nürnberg 2.0 and Politically Incorrect has been accompanied by arson and other attacks on mosques.

Via Loonwatch

Call for ‘solidarity’ after Stevenage mosque attack

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A member of a mosque which was targeted in a suspected arson attack has called for “solidarity”. Salman Lone, from the Stevenage Muslim Community Centre, spoke at a meeting with the police on Friday – three days after a flammable liquid was poured inside the mosque in Vardon Road and set alight.

A toilet extractor fan was smashed before the liquid was poured in at some point between the evening of Tuesday, February 25, and the following morning. The toilets had a tiled floor and walls, preventing the fire from spreading. However the smoke caused extensive damage throughout the building.

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Six arrested after firework thrown at Whitley Bay Islamic Centre

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Whitley Bay Islamic CentreA firework has been thrown at an Islamic centre in Tyneside.

Around eight people were inside the Whitley Bay Islamic Cultural Centre, on Hillheads Road, and were praying at the time of the attack just before 2.30pm on Wednesday afternoon.

Six men have been arrested for criminal damage. No one was injured.

Abdul Hannan, leader of the centre, said: “We were praying at the time of the incident and got such a shock as it sounded like a bomb had gone off. We could see smoke and fire at the window. We would never expect anything like this to happen and we don’t think that we were deliberately targeted as people in the area are very friendly and we get on well in the community. I think it’s just one of these things that could happen anywhere at any time.”

Police have arrested two men aged 29, and four other men aged 27, 25, 23 and 19, who are now helping police with their enquiries.

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