Category Archives: English Defence League

Police and council block SDL’s Pollokshields protest

Posted on by Bob Pitt

SDL Glasgow February 2012(2)Authorities are to move against a planned weekend march by the far-right Scottish Defence League amid police concerns of serious public disorder and the impact on community relations.

The group, a fringe organisation that opposes what it considers to be a spread of Islam, has applied to parade through one of Scotland’s most multicultural areas to commemorate the birthday of Kriss Donald, the teenager who was murdered by an Asian gang almost a decade ago.

But Police Scotland said the planned march through Glasgow’s Pollokshields area “might reasonably be believed to be intended to be provocative to the Muslim community”, falling as it does in Ramadan.

At meetings with the police and Glasgow City Council it has also emerged that rather than discussing the parade as a “memorial event” the SDL said they “would go to where there was a problem and mentioned Asian gangs and the raping of young girls”.

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Does anyone know who this man is?

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL mosque tattooThis photo has been widely circulated over the past few days. It was taken at the English Defence League’s demonstration in Birmingham last Saturday.

I have to admit I was initially a bit dubious about whether the photo was genuine. However, there is another picture of the same EDL member, which would suggest that it is.

The photo appears in today’s issue of the Sun, who are asking anyone who recognises this individual to contact them.

Once in a while, even the right-wing tabloid press can play a positive role.

Member of ‘non-racist’ EDL fined for racist outburst

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Lianne TylerA woman has been fined £100 after she drunkenly told police she was going “P*** bashing with the EDL”.

Lianne Tyler made the racist remark to a custody sergeant after being arrested on her way to Saturday’s English Defence League demo in Birmingham city centre. The 20-year-old, of Brailes Grove, Bordesley Green, also twice referred to a police officer as a “black c***”, the court heard.

City magistrates were told officers had found Tyler drunk and carrying alcohol in New Street. She refused to be moved on and told police: “I’m not f****** leaving town, I’m going to EDL.”

Tyler, wearing a T-shirt and combat shorts in court, pleaded guilty to offences of failing to disperse and racially aggravated public order. She was fined £50 on each charge, but the fine was deemed served by her time spent in custody since Saturday afternoon.

Birmingham Mail, 22 July 2013

Gloucester: Protests at court as men charged with setting fire to mosque appear

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Gloucester mosque arson protestProtesters campaigning against racism waved placards outside court as two men faced charges of setting a mosque ablaze.

Clive Michael Ceronne, 37, and Ashley Henry Juggins, 20, are charged with conspiracy to commit arson on the Masjid-E-Noor mosque. Ceronne, a former security guard of Redwood Close, in Gloucester, entered no plea to the charges. Juggins, of Brooklyn Road in Cheltenham, was due to appear via videolink. But he was being transferred between prisons and his appearance was adjourned.

The pair are accused of buying lager, vodka and a petrol can of fuel from a London Road garage and using the fuel to set fire to the Muslim place of worship in Ryecroft Street. A passer-by saw the fire last month and helped put it out before severe damage was caused.

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Man fined over harassment at Hastings Mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Reporting the sentencing of English Defence League activist Adam Rogers, the Hastings & St Leonards Observer adds the following information:

“Just a fortnight ago, Kevin Newsome, 58, from Luton, was fined £200 by Hastings magistrates after he walked into Hastings Mosque late at night on August 18 last year, threw a number of shoes into the street, and harassed a Muslim family.”

Police have booked a Birmingham bar for the EDL, despite the objections of the bar management

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL Downing Street protest (2)
English Defence League protesting at Downing Street in May

Police plan to control English Defence League supporters when they arrive in Birmingham on Saturday by basing them inside a PUB for up to three hours. The right-wing protestors will be kept at Bar Risa in Broad Street from around 11am to 2pm – raising fears of a repeat of the alcohol-fuelled disorder witnessed at a previous city rally in September 2009.

The West Midlands force has drafted in 1,000 officers to police the Centenary Square event, with hundreds of EDL supporters reportedly travelling from around the country via coach and rail to attend. Anti-fascist groups are planning a protest rival demonstration in nearby Chamberlain Square.

But in a bid to keep the factions apart the Mail has learned West Midlands Police will shepherd EDL supporters arriving in the city on coaches to the popular Bar Risa from around 11am. They will then be led to Centenary Square from around 2pm for the rally which is set to finish at 4pm.

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Unite Against Fascism calls for opposition to EDL’s Birmingham rally

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Oppose EDL in Birmingham

The English Defence League (EDL) has announced its intention to demonstrate in Birmingham this Saturday 20 July. This follows a series of attacks on Mosques as racists seek to escalate Islamophobia and intimidation of Muslims, following the murder of Lee Rigby in Woolwich in May.

Recently, the Kanz-ul-Iman Muslim Welfare Association Central Jamia Mosque in Tipton was attacked with a nail bomb, leading the Police to consider it a terrorist attack. Last month the Jinnah Road Mosque in Redditch was broken into and sprayed with a swastika, “EDL”, “NF”, “KKK”, and other racist graffiti, and a homemade bomb exploded outside the Aisha Mosque and Islamic Centre in Walsall.

The EDL’s demonstrations often descend into violence and intimidation of Muslims and other ethnic minority groups and disrupt otherwise peaceful communities. We have been campaigning in Birmingham to build support for a united community response against the EDL.

We want a peaceful counter demonstration on the day to show that Birmingham is a united, multicultural and peaceful community that does not want racist and fascist thugs intimidating or attacking Muslims or any other minority group in our city. We urge all who are concerned to reject the EDL’s attempt to divide our community and stand with us.

UNITE AGAINST EDL AND CELEBRATE MULTI-CULTURAL BIRMINGHAM
Sat 20 July, 12pm
Golden Boys statue, Outside the House of Sport, Broad Street, Birmingham

UAF news report, 17 July 2013

Stoke-on-Trent: Mosque the EDL tried to blow up is now open

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Rana Tufail outside Regent Road mosqueA city centre mosque has finally opened its doors – after years of delays and an attempt to blow it up. The building, in Regent Road, Hanley, is now being used for prayers ahead of its official completion.

Plans for the Islamic centre were first tabled back in 2000, but the project sparked controversy after it emerged Stoke-on-Trent City Council had agreed to lease the site for a £1 peppercorn rent. The mosque suffered a further setback after a plot to blow up the building caused more than £50,000 of damage.

But the £2 million mosque is now nearly finished and is expected to be officially opened next month. In the meantime it has been opened for prayers for the holy month of Ramadan.

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