A racist graffiti attack in a back street in Burnley has been condemned by community leaders. And a councillor is in no doubt it was part of a misguided backlash after the killing of Drummer Lee Rigby, in Woolwich, last week.
Racist slogans were daubed on a security door, pavements and commercial bin, alongside the initials of the far-right English Defence League and British National Party, behind Cobden Street.
A man has admitted mocking a Muslim prayer ritual and hurling racial insults during a fundraiser for Help for Heroes that sparked a five-hour stand-off with police in St George on the weekend. Lee Cousins, 40, of Soundwell Road, Soundwell pleaded guilty to causing racially/religiously aggravated harassment or alarm following the unrest on Saturday evening.
Magistrates at Bristol heard that Cousins was amongst a group of men who had come out of the St George’s Hall public house in Church Road after initially barricading themselves in when police arrived. Cousins then mocked a Muslim prayer ritual by getting down on his hands and knees in the road before shouting racial slurs involving Muslims and Allah.
The English Defence League’s protest in London yesterday can hardly have boosted the organisation’s appeal to the wider public, even among those who share its general Islamophobic viewpoint and inclination to blame the Muslim community as a whole for the death of Lee Rigby.
Still, not everyone was put off by the sight of drunken thugs giving fascist salutes, shouting abuse, throwing bottles and fighting with the police. The Civil Liberty website today posted a report hailing EDL leader Stephen Lennon’s speech at the Downing Street demonstration and claiming an astonishing 5,000 participants at the earlier EDL protest in Newcastle.
Two ex-soldiers have been remanded in custody this afternoon after being charged with arson with intent to endanger life. It follows an incident at the mosque on Weelsby Road, in Grimsby, on Sunday.
Stuart Harness, 33, of Dixon Avenue, Grimsby, and Gavin Humphries, 37, were arrested by police shortly after the incident took place. Both men appeared at Grimsby Magistrates’ Court today.
Lincolnshire Police have warned against inciting racial and religious hatred or violence at a planned protest march against the Lincoln mosque on June 8.
The demo is organised via Facebook by a group called East Anglian Patriots, possibly an off-shoot of the English Defence League (EDL). The force said the event was planned before the Woolwich attack last week.
Police are investigating an incident outside Folkestone Mosque in Foord Road South, Folkestone at 9.10 pm on Thursday 23 May.
A small rock was thrown at the front door of the building while worshippers were inside. There was no damage caused. A small rock was thrown at the front door of the building while worshippers were inside. There was no damage caused.
It was then reported to police that just after the incident four young girls also walked past and made racist comments.
The Belgian city of Ghent has scrapped its ban on civil servants wearing headscarves after its Socialist and Green majority overturned a measure imposed in 2007 when center-right parties dominated the city council.
More than 10,000 adult citizens, or about five times the number required to call the vote, had signed a petition calling for the prohibition to be lifted.
After a four-hour debate lasting almost until midnight on Monday, 29 of the city council’s 51 members voted to rescind the ban on the wearing of religious or political symbols for city officials dealing with the public.
The head of Oldham police division has quashed rumours that a pregnant woman was arrested for carrying a Union Flag through Oldham town centre.
Chief Supt Catherine Hankinson said no one was held on Saturday afternoon when the English Defence League (EDL) gathered. A video posted on the internet showed a woman being led by police towards a Tactical Aid Unit van after an altercation between two men.
The woman was holding a Union Flag and another flag Greater Manchester Police considered had a “highly-inappropriate” message. Many tweets then made incorrect claims that a pregnant woman had been arrested for carrying a Union Flag.
Denying the right to discuss British foreign policy in the wake of the horrific murder in Woolwich is short-sighted and dangerous, argues Rachel Shabi.
