Kieren Trent, leader of the British National Party’s “young adults” organisation Resistance, was arrested by Thames Valley Police yesterday (Sunday), according to a report on a far-right activist’s blog. His computer equipment was seized.
The arrest followed a demonstration in Wolverton, Milton Keynes, against a local councillor who voted in favour of granting planning permission to Bletchley mosque. Councillor Mike Galloway, a Liberal Democrat, is a member of the Milton Keynes Development Control Committee, which deals with planning applications, and chair of the Local Development Framework Advisory Group.
Bletchley mosque has been the target of BNP opposition since last autumn, with Trent leading several protests.
Trent and another person were held in custody on suspicion of committing an offence under section 5 of the Public Order Act – disorderly behaviour, the report said. If convicted he could be fined.
The report says the demonstration forms part of a new approach to activism consisting of “explaining the failures of an individual councillor to their immediate neighbours and ensuring that the community realise who is responsible for the changes that are coming about”.
It seems more a new excuse for harassment than anything else. Trent, who has stood unsuccessfully for election to Milton Keynes council, was one of a group of BNP activists involved in a violent confrontation with Asian youths in Barking a few days before last year’s general election. The incident was caught on film, posted on YouTube, but Trent was not charged despite being clearly visible landing blows and kicks to someone on the ground.
Trent is pictured posing with a gun in front of an Ulster loyalist flag on page 91 of Lone wolves: myth or reality? in “chapter 6, these people are dangerous”, downloadable from http://www.lonewolfproject.org.uk/resources/LW-complete-final.pdf (pdf file 8mb).