Category Archives: English Defence League

SDL outnumbered by anti-fascists in Berwick

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Berwick anti-SDL demo

Five people were arrested amid clashes and disorder as an anti-Islamic group and its opponent marched through a border town.

Potential troublemakers were also escorted from the scene and potential racist language reported as the Scottish Defence League (SDL) and United Against Fascism (UAF) both staged marches in Berwick on Saturday.

Northumbria Police has said appropriate action will be taken where offences have been committed.

The UAF group has hailed the day a victory for the people of Berwick in their stand against fascism.

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Racial abuse shouted in Hartlepool mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Masjid Nasir HartlepoolPolice are hunting two men and a woman who burst into a mosque and shouted racial abuse. The incident happened at the Nasir Mosque on Brougham Terrace, in Hartlepool, at around 7.45pm on Tuesday, February 5.

A Cleveland Police spokeswoman said: “Two men and a woman entered the mosque via the main entrance and began causing a disturbance and shouting during prayer time. They were also racially abusive when asked to leave the premises.”

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Berwick UAF campaign gathers support ahead of Scottish Defence League demo

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Berwick UAF stall

The newly-formed Berwick Unite Against Fascism group has been drumming up support ahead of a demo this weekend. The group, which came together in response to Scottish Defence League plans to march in the town this weekend, pledges to bring all platforms and all colours together to show that the town is united against fascism.

A spokesman for Berwick UAF said: “We had a very good day in Berwick on Saturday and garnered a lot of local support for opposition to the proposed SDL march in Berwick next Saturday. We distributed hundreds of leaflets explaining the situation and the reasons for opposing the SDL. The demonstration is open to all who oppose the SDL and other racist groups who threaten our town.”

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Oslo: Norwegian Defence League supporter arrested over bomb threat

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Oslo bomb threat suspectA 27-year-old man arrested in connection with a threat to bomb the Norwegian parliament has been an active supporter of the EDL’s sister organisation the Norwegian Defence League, it has been reported.

Police were alerted on Tuesday night after the driver of a bus on which the man was travelling overheard him make the threat during a phone conversation. Police launched a full-scale manhunt, while the area around the parliament building was cordoned off with armed police guarding checkpoints.

Early this afternoon police announced the suspect’s arrest, stating that they had found a gas pistol and a bulletproof vest during a raid on his apartment in Oslo.

He has not yet been named but the media say he was a participant in the Norwegian Defence League’s protest in Oslo in December, which was addressed by Steve Simmons of the EDL. The anti-racist organisation Vepsen reports that the man acted as a video cameraman on the December demonstration and was seen in conversation with several well-known NDL members.

Update:  See “NDL member charged with bomb scare”, Hope Not Hate, 15 February 2013

Antisemitic yob who sang ‘offensive song associated with the EDL’ loses prison sentence appeal

Posted on by Bob Pitt

John HenninganA racist yob from Harlow who was branded a “disgrace to the values of this country” after making Nazi salutes and unleashing a torrent of anti-semitic abuse in a London pub has failed in a bid to have his prison sentence reduced.

John Patrick Hennigan (46), of Long Banks, Harlow, was caged for 21 months after he was convicted at the Old Bailey in October of breaching an anti-social behaviour order for the seventh time.

He has now lost his application to have the sentence cut when judges at the Court of Appeal ruled it was “richly deserved”.

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EDL protester gets suspended prison sentence and CRASBO

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Peter Jelley EDLA protester at an English Defence League march in Walsall has been given a suspended jail term and banned from any demonstrations for four years.

Peter Jelley was caught on CCTV gesturing and shouting at a line of police in Walsall as trouble broke out at the rally last autumn. He was sentenced to 20 weeks in custody, suspended by a year, and given a Criminal Anti-Social Behaviour Order at the town’s magistrates court.

The 24-year-old from Shropshire admitted a public order offence of using threatening or abusive behaviour at a previous court hearing and was sentenced yesterday.

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EDL ‘not expecting huge numbers’ at Cambridge demo

Posted on by Bob Pitt

English Defence League leaders are meeting police to “reduce disruption” during a demonstration in Cambridge.

The right-wing group, which disputes claims from supporters of Cambridge Unite Against Fascism that it was forced to call off a march, told the News the group had decided to hold a “static protest” to reduce disruption in the city centre.

A spokesman said: “All I can say at the moment is that it’s an awareness demo until I have my next meeting with police within the next seven to 10 days to finalise the rest.”

Police are planning their strategy to deal with the EDL demonstration on February 23. The EDL has previously protested against the building of a new mosque off Mill Road.

Almost 750 people have signed up to a counter-demonstration under the banner of Cambridge Unite Against Fascism (CUAF).

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Gavin Boby addresses small meeting at Ottowa public library

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Gavin Boby Ottawa meetingA controversial British lawyer spoke in Ottawa despite protest from groups who oppose his opinion, which is that mosques should not be built in non-Muslim areas.

Gavin Boby spoke in front of 40 people at the main branch of the Ottawa Public Library Monday evening as protesters stood outside the branch at the corner of Metcalfe Street and Laurier Avenue West.

Boby, who is also an activist, is known for using zoning regulations to try to stop mosques from opening in areas he considers “non-Muslim.”

He told the CBC’s Simon Gardner before the speech he does not want views of Islam to dictate certain neighbourhoods. “Increasingly what we are seeing now is self-declared Muslim areas where you get Muslim patrols saying you can’t walk a dog, wear a skirt,” he said.

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Three in court after bacon thrown at Edinburgh Central Mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Two men and a woman have appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court after bacon was allegedly thrown at and stuck to the Central Mosque.

Douglas Cruikshank, 37, Chelsea Lambie, 17, and Wayne Stilwel, 24, were charged with a racially prejudiced offence. All three, who are from the Lothian and Borders area, made a brief appearance, separately in private, before Sheriff James Scott today.

No plea or declaration was made on their behalf and their cases were continued for further inquiry. All were released on bail with the special condition that they do not go within 100 metres of any mosque.

It is alleged the Central Mosque, in Potterrow, had bacon thrown at it and stuck to certain parts of the building on January 31.

The Scotsman, 4 February 2013

Via ENGAGE

CAIR-Canada urges public library to cancel speech by Gavin Boby

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Law and Freedom Foundation logoOTTAWA — A Canadian Muslim organization wants the Ottawa Public Library to cancel a speech by a controversial British lawyer who advocates legal tactics to block the construction of new mosques in the U.K.

Self-proclaimed “mosquebuster” Gavin Boby is scheduled to speak at the library on Monday night, the first stop on a Canadian speaking tour that will also take him to Montreal and Toronto.

Boby is the founder of an organization called Law and Freedom Foundation, which he says is devoted to “resisting the tide of Islam” by using the municipal planning process to oppose the building of mosques.

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