Police appeal to trace men after violence at Walsall town centre EDL protest

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL Walsall protest wanted

Police want to speak to these 10 men after violence erupted on the streets of Walsall during a protest by the English Defence League.

Officers have spent hours trawling through CCTV footage of the disorder, which broke out in the town centre on September 29 last year.

It comes after police carried out early morning raids yesterday, arresting eight people on suspicion of public order offences. Homes in Walsall, Brownhills, West Bromwich, Tipton and Hateley Heath were all targeted. Six men have been charged with violent disorder and two have been bailed pending further inquiries.

Express & Star, 27 March 2013

Man photographed grinning and holding piece of wood moments before mosque attack was merely smiling happily at his friends, claims defence counsel

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A man photographed holding a piece of wood moments before Kingston Mosque was attacked was grinning at his friends not plotting violence, his defence counsel has said.

Alfie Wallace was snapped holding a piece of wood in East Road, where the mosque is, while another unidentified man stood behind him wielding a stick, Kingston Crown Court heard. He was caught on the mobile phone of co-defendant David Morris before the attack on November 21, 2010.

Mr Wallace’s defence counsel Eve Macatonia said: “The picture the Crown say is so sinister. Have a look at his face. He is smiling.”

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Guerilla artists combat Geller’s hate campaign

Posted on by Bob Pitt

BAAQUP against Geller 2Over at the Huffington Post Aaron Sankin reports that a San Francisco-based group called Bay Area Art Queers Unleashing Power (BAAQUP) have mounted a guerrilla art campaign against Pamela Geller’s latest round of anti-Muslim ads on the city’s buses.

A message pasted over the ads by BAAQUP reads: “I’m Pam Geller and I fund anti-Muslim hate speech. I’m obsessed and must struggle to stop.”

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Seven held following raids in Walsall and Sandwell over EDL protest violence

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL arrest Walsall

Police swooped on homes across the Black Country today, including two addresses in Walsall, to arrest people suspected of violent disorder during a protest in the town by the EDL.

Seven men aged between 17 and 59 were arrested during the early morning raids. Police also seized items of clothing. It comes after violence erupted in Walsall town centre on September 29 during the English Defence League demonstration.

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Tennessee lawmakers confuse mop sink for Muslim foot-washing sink

Posted on by Bob Pitt

NASHVILLE — Sometimes a mop sink is just a mop sink.

Building managers and legislative staffers have sought to reassure some concerned Tennessee lawmakers that recent renovations at the state Capitol did not install special facilities for Muslims to wash their feet before praying.

“I confirmed with the facility administrator for the State Capitol Complex that the floor-level sink installed in the men’s restroom outside the House Chamber is for housekeeping use,” Legislative Administration Director Connie Ridley wrote in an email. “It is, in layman’s terms, a mop sink.”

The Tennessean, 25 March 2013

See also “Scary sink terrorizes Tennessee state legislature”, Loonwatch, 25 March 2013

Update:  Also “Fears of creeping sharia at the Tennessee capitol go down the drain”, The Atlantic Wire, 26 March 2013

And “CAIR says sponsors of Tenn. anti-Islam bill ‘sink’ to new low”, CAIR press release, 26 March 2013

Canberra mosque opponents must pay $25,000 security before court case can proceed

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Gungahlin mosque

The opponents to the Gungahlin Mosque have won more time to build their case against the development, but have lost a bid to include a Christian fundamentalist activist in the proceedings.

And the Concerned Citizens of Canberra – who had just six members and $2159 in assets in October last year – have been told they must fork out $25,000 in security before the case can go ahead, after fears were raised about their ability to pay court costs if ordered to do so.

The application to build the 500-capacity mosque on The Valley Avenue was approved by the city’s planning authority in August last year.

That decision was made in the face of vocal opposition from a group named the Concerned Citizens of Canberra, who attempted to drum up opposition to the mosque, delivering thousands of flyers to nearby homes.

The group then launched legal action against the ACT Planning and Land Authority over the decision to approve the mosque.

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Toronto jogger accused of assaulting, harassing pregnant woman wearing hijab

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Shawn SableA Toronto man is facing charges after a pregnant woman was allegedly assaulted and harassed numerous times in midtown.

It was reported that the suspect was jogging along Yonge Street near Eglinton Avenue West when he veered towards the victim, who was wearing a hijab, struck her and uttered a comment before running off.

On a second occasion the same jogger struck the woman with both hands and continued to run south on Yonge.

Const. Wendy Drummond told the Canadian Press they believe the man may have targetted the woman because of her hijab.

It is alleged that he also criminally harassed her on five other occasions. The incidents occurred between Feb. 25 and Mar. 25.

Shawn Sable, 43, appeared in court on Monday and was charged with two counts of assault and one count of criminal harassment.

Police believe there may be more victims.

680 News, 25 March 2013

Magdi Allam quits Catholic Church

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Magdi Allam baptisedMagdi Cristiano Allam, an Egyptian-born Muslim whom Pope Benedict publicly baptised at Easter five years ago in St Peter’s Basilica has announced that he is leaving the Church because it has taken too soft a stand against Islam.

“My conversion to Catholicism, which came at the hands of Benedict XVI during the Easter Vigil on 22 March 2008, I now consider finished in combination with the end of his pontificate,” Mr Allam wrote on Monday in the right-wing Milan daily, Il Giornale.

The 61-year-old journalist and right-wing politician has long been an Italian citizen. He said he had pondered his decision to leave the Church for some time. However, he affirmed that the “last straw” was the election of Pope Francis, which he said was proof that the Church is “troppo buonista” – excessively tolerant.

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‘A mega mosque in a suburb that was 90 per cent white 30 years ago’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

With the assistance of self-styled “Left-leaning Hampstead liberal” David Goodhart, the Daily Mail continues its anti-migrant, “Islamisation of Britain” propaganda with an attack on the Ahmadiyya movement’s Baitul Futuh mosque in Morden.

Update:  See also “‘Merton’s not white anymore’, moans former liberal in the Daily Mail”, Indigo Jo Blogs, 26 March 2013