Category Archives: Anti-Muslim violence

Sofia police step up security near mosque after man mistaken for refugee seriously assaulted

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Police in Bulgaria’s capital city Sofia have stepped up security in streets nearby the landmark Banya Bashi mosque after a group of men in their 20s seriously assaulted a man they apparently mistook for a refugee and attempted to batter their way into a building housing refugees.

The victim of the assault, a Bulgarian of Turkish extraction identified in media reports as named Georgi “Metin” Dimitrov (28), remained in hospital on November 10 2013 in serious conditions, in a coma with severe head injuries.

Two men, aged 28 and 29, have been arrested in connection with the assault on “Metin” Dimitrov. Both are said to be from Sofia. Media reports said that about five to six men had been involved in the attack. According to the Interior Ministry, three further suspects are being sought.

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Pavlo Lapshyn – not such a lone wolf

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Pavlo Lapshyn nail bomb
Remains of the nail bomb that Pavlo Lapshyn planted outside the Kanz-ul-Iman Central Jamia Mosque in Tipton

Pavlo Lapshyn had been in Britain for just five days when he murdered grandfather of 23 Mohammed Saleem by stabbing him in the back as he made his way home after Friday prayers. The 25 year-old white supremacist had moved to Birmingham where he had been awarded a placement to further his engineering studies.

Following his trial counter terrorism officers said that he had acted as a “lone wolf”. But detectives found literature and images related to PoU [the neo-Nazi paramilitary group, Patriot of Ukraine] and fascist Dynamo Kiev supporters on Lapshyn’s Russian Facebook page and on a pen computer drive when they raided the home he shared with a fellow student in Small Heath, Birmingham.

Investigations by counter terrorism officers found that Lapshyn was not a member of any of these groups and that no one else was involved in the murder of Mr Saleem, aged 82, or the bombs that were set off at three Midland mosques.

But Lapshyn was influenced by the ideologies of right wing extremists in Ukraine. Neo-Nazi literature and racist chants popular with Dynamo Kiev fans were among the disturbing set of literature found at his home in Small Heath, Birmingham.

Detectives also found a folder marked “White World” on Lapshyn’s computer which included a violent video game called “Ethnic Cleansing” featuring ‘soldiers’ from the PoU. Another audio file entitled “You Must Murder” contained more racist rants by East European extremists calling for a violent race war.

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EDL member fined for drunken abuse during protest against grooming gangs … in Thatcham

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Brian BarnesA man was arrested at a Thatcham rally for the English Defence League, Newbury magistrates heard.

The trouble flared during the demonstration on October 5 this year, the court was told. In the dock on Thursday, October 24, was 38-year-old Brian Barnes [pictured], who had travelled from his home in Rectory Road, Hook in Hampshire, for the event.

Helen Waite, prosecuting, said: “The defendant was taking part in an EDL demonstration and was crossing Station Road in Thatcham.” She added that he was heard to shout abuse and swear at someone and that “there were three children nearby.”

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Russia’s march toward ruin

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Nationalist demonstrator Moscow November 2013The Russian March, a yearly demonstration of Russian nationalist groups, was held Monday in Moscow and in 100 other cities across the country. Never before has this march been held amid so much xenophobia and intolerance in Russian society. Never before have members of the ruling elite, including members of the State Duma and the Kremlin, so publicly and openly made anti-­migrant and xenophobic statements. Not surprisingly, 40 percent of Russians now say they support holding the Russian March, according to a recent poll by the Levada Center.

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Islamophobia has surged in Quebec since Charter proposed

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Muslim Council of Montreal press conference

Islamophobia has surged in Quebec since the introduction of the proposed Charter of Quebec Values, the Muslim Council of Montreal warned Tuesday, with an alarming rise in attacks, specifically against Muslim women.

Muslims made 117 complaints of verbal or physical abuse to a local anti-Islamophobia group between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15, compared to a total of 25 complaints (or 3.5 complaints per month on average) in the nine-month period of January to September 2013.

This spike coincides with the kick-off of the debate on the Parti Québécois government’s proposed charter of values, which proposes to prevent public servants from wearing “ostentatious” religious symbols, including the hijab and niqab.

“Premier Marois’s introduction of the charter of values has unleashed an alarming number of xenophobic and Islamaphobic attacks,” the council’s president, Salam Elmenyawi, told a press conference.

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EDL-supporting teenager who ‘plotted massacre’ was photographed outside mosque making Breivik-style salute

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A schoolboy plotted to carry out a Columbine-style massacre on the 15th anniversary of the atrocity, the Old Bailey was told.

The 17-year-old, accused of planning to launch a terror attack on his old school in Loughborough, Leicestershire, also downloaded and kept a photograph of the pair who murdered 12 students and one teacher at Columbine High School in Colorado, United States in 1999. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold are pictured in the image after they killed themselves, surrounded by weapons, with blood and bullet wounds visible.

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Four suspects arrested after arson attack on Harlow Islamic Centre will face no further action

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Harlow Islamic Centre arsonFour people arrested in connection with an arson attack on Harlow Islamic Centre back in August will have no further action taken against them.

All four were released on bail after their arrests but detectives today confirmed they were no longer suspects.

As a result of the development officers investigating the incident have renewed their appeal for information and are asking people to have another close look at CCTV images [see below] that were released in the wake of the attack.

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Florida woman says man tried to run her off road because of headscarf

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Rose road rage victimPOINCIANA, Fla. — Florida deputies are working to track down a driver who tried to run a woman and her two young children off the road in broad daylight.

Rose, who only wanted to be identified by her first name, said the man tried to run her off the road in Poinciana, Fla., because of her hijab, a headscarf worn by Muslim women.

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Police release CCTV of man wanted in connection with attempted arson attack on Al-Hira Centre

Posted on by Bob Pitt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yxQdITVK40M

Footage of a man wanted in connection with an attempted arson attack at a mosque has been released by the police.

The man is wanted for questioning for the incident which happened in Beechwood Road, Luton, on October 4, when he was seen pouring engine oil along the pavement and then trying to enter a building through an open window at around 1.50am.

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Gillingham man Andrew Grindlay accused of breaking into and damaging Jamia Mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Gillingham mosque vandalismA mosque in Gillingham was burgled and vandalised just hours after the horrific killing of a British Army soldier in south east London, a court heard.

Andrew Grindlay allegedly broke into the Jamia Mosque, in Canterbury Street – smashing a glass cabinet, pulling a shelving unit from the wall and scattering books around the room.

Urine was also running down the door to the mosque and collecting in a pool at the bottom, Maidstone Crown Court was told. The door frame itself was also damaged.

Prosecutor Bridget Todd said police had been tasked to provide reassurance to those using the mosque following the brutal knife attack on Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich on May 22.

A patrol car was stationed outside, but within one minute of the officers leaving their post – having been ordered to carry out a roaming patrol – and just half an hour after evening prayers had finished, the mosque was allegedly targeted.

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