Category Archives: Far right racists

EDL thug who hurled fire extinguisher at police jailed for 31 months

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ashley Rowland, James Cocks, Melvyn Parker and Jason Harris
Clockwise from top left: Ashley Rowland, James Cocks, Melvyn Parker and Jason Harris

An English Defence League supporter who hurled a fire extinguisher at police officers at “almost point blank range” as violence flared in Birmingham has been jailed.

Ashley Rowland was among up to 300 people involved in bloody clashes with police during a demonstration in the city centre on July 20 last year. Thirty officers were injured with one needing hospital treatment.

Judge Richard Bond said Rowland was the most heavily-involved of more than 50 defendants due to be sentenced over the violence and had moved between various pockets of trouble.

He chanted racial and anti-religious slogans with others and aggressively confronted officers in Centenary Square.

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Birkbeck College buckles to far right, cancels Islamophobia Conference booking

Posted on by Bob Pitt

IHRC logoAn academic conference tackling the alarming rise in Islamophobia in the UK has had to be relocated after the London University College hosting the event gave in to far right Islamophobes threatening to demonstrate outside the venue.

Birkbeck College has withdrawn the go-ahead it originally gave for the conference organised by the Islamic Human Rights Commission citing its inability to arrange sufficient security in time for the event this Saturday. The conference will now be held at an alternative venue.

The turnaround came after calls were made on social media by Britain First, a xenophobic far right group which styles itself as the ‘British Resistance’, to demonstrate at the event. Britain First is being supported by another extreme right wing group, Casuals United, an alliance of football hooligans from various clubs, formed to tackle what they see as growing Muslim influence in Britain. In recent months the groups have adopted a policy of using bullying tactics to force venues to cancel Muslim-organised events and intimidate Muslim communities.

On Wednesday, IHRC staff who were on a routine site visit were dragged by college officials into an impromptu meeting to discuss the far right calls in which they were surprised to find local council PREVENT officer already in attendance. PREVENT is a key plank of the government’s CONTEST strategy which seeks to combat terrorism and is directed almost exclusively at Britain’s Muslim community. IHRC sees little reason for a council officer to be involved in a private matter between itself and the college. It seems odd that instead of tackling the immediate threats to a legitimate and peaceful event, the College appeared to be more interested in using the issue as an excuse to involve anti-extremism and radicalisation officials.

In fact during the meeting both parties seemed to be more worried about the prospect of a counter-demonstration by an anarchist and anti-fascist student group. The police involvement has also fallen a long way short of what is required. We find it hard to understand why local police were only in contact with the College about the event and did not see fit to discuss matters with IHRC until after Birkbeck College’s decision to cancel.

While IHRC believes that the safety of everyone is paramount it is not justifiable to allow threats and intimidation by a tiny minority to disrupt the normal flow of everyday life. The College has clearly bowed to Islamophobic pressure and may even have Islamophobic motives itself for cancelling the booking without sufficiently exploring other security options. The College even rejected IHRC’s offer to arrange its own security for the event.

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English Defence League DJ taken off air by police raid

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Davey Russell crusader photoshopA far-right shock jock operating a pirate radio station out of house in Herne Bay has been raided by police.

Officers burst into Davey Russell’s detached home near the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital. Broadcasting and communications watchdog Ofcom led the raid, which saw radio equipment removed from the house.

Russell, 44, is a leading member of the English Defence League (EDL) and runs what he calls an internet talk/rant show on his station Motiv8 Radio.

In a camera rant on his Facebook page following his arrest, Russell says strange lines and messages began appearing on his computer in the days before his arrest. “I am being severely looked at,” he says. “It’s not good people. Something has got to be done. Do you understand? Something has got to be done.”

Russell also tells his 3,500 followers that 14 police officers and five Ofcom officials came to his house while he was in bed and seized equipment, including a mixer, a hard drive, a computer and a transmitter with a reach of five miles.

“This has all but wiped me out,” he says. “It was overkill. This is not a big outfit, but it’s something we have to suffer. We are not earning money out of it. I might just get a slap on the wrist and get the kit back, most of which is my disabled son’s. But this has been an attempt to silence us.”

Ofcom and Kent Police say the raid was carried out because Russell, a married father-of-two, was suspected of breaching section 35 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006. The section of the Act relates to installing, using or establishing a station for wireless telegraphy without a valid licence.

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Extremist who attacked George Galloway is jailed for 16 months

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Neil Masterson

A man who attacked the Respect MP George Galloway in a London street has been jailed for 16 months.

Drug addict Neil Masterson, 39, left the pro-Palestine MP for Bradford West with cuts and bruises to his head and ribs and requiring hospital treatment after the frenzied assault in Notting Hill in August.

Masterson, who was wearing a pink t-shirt with an Israeli Defence Force logo when he was arrested nearby, told police he felt “morally justified” in attacking the MP because he was a “Nazi” with a “shameful” attitude towards Jews, Isleworth Crown Court heard.

Galloway, the court heard, believes he would have been killed if Masterson, who had “recently undergone a conversion towards Judaism”, had been armed with a knife during their chance meeting.

Masterson, of Kensington, who used to work for the Department of Work and Pensions and as a manager at the BBC, had previously admitted assaulting Mr Galloway and a second charge of common assault against a man who had been posing for a picture with the MP as the attack happened.

Judge Aidan Marron QC told the clean-shaven and smartly suited Masterson: “While you are no longer facing a charge of religiously aggravated assault, it would be unreal to ignore that the motivation for this … was your profound hostility to Mr Galloway’s views.”

He added that Masterson’s “loathing” of Galloway was manifested by what he did at the start of the assault and said afterwards in interviews.

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Disabled EDL supporter who burned a copy of the Koran jailed after battling police while on crutches

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Joshua, Hill, Harrington and Beebee
Clockwise from top left – Lee Joshua, Jake Hill, James Harrington and Adam Beebee

A disabled English Defence League supporter who posted a picture of himself burning a copy of the Koran on Facebook has been jailed after he battled with police while still on crutches.

Right winger Lee Joshua got involved in clashes with police while on a protest rally where officers were pelted with paving slabs and bottles. Joshua, 43, of Netherton, West Midlands, claimed to have “enjoyed every minute” of violent scenes which left 30 police officers injured. He was sentenced to 16 months at Birmingham Crown Court today.

The court heard that a Muslim prayer cap and a Pakistani flag were set on fire in the street during the disorder in July 2013. Around 200 EDL supporters were involved in the violence in the Broad Street and Centenary Square areas of Birmingham, which lasted for around two hours.

Joshua, said to have been at the fore-front of attempts to break through police lines, was sentenced alongside fellow EDL supporters Jake Hill, James Harrington and Adam Beebee.

Passing sentence on the men, who all admitted violent disorder, Judge Richard Bond said much of the conduct seen at the EDL rally had been “plainly racist and/or anti-Muslim”. The judge told them:

“There were seven separate sites where violence was either used of threatened. Even officers trained for public disorder and who have experience of such situations told both juries (in earlier trials) how scared they were of what was taking place. They had not seen aggression like this before despite their experience.”

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The Sun exposes Britain First

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Jayda Fransen abuses worshippers at Gillingham mosque
Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen abuses worshippers outside Gillingham mosque last month

It is of course the case that the mainstream right-wing press has played a major role in whipping up the atmosphere of Islamophobia that has allowed far-right anti-Muslim hate-groups to flourish. Nevertheless, yesterday’s Sun featured a very effective exposé  of Britain First. You can read it here.

The report is based on an interview with Matthew Lester, the former BF member who to his credit recently broke with the organisation and visited a mosque in Crayford that had previously been the victim of BF harassment in order to apologise.

Matthew Lester’s message is clear – Britain First is a would-be paramilitary organisation that represents a significant threat to community cohesion and “has to be stopped”.

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Right-wing Dresden protest met with counter demo

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Germany Far Right

Thousands of people demonstrated in downtown Dresden on Monday night in a rally organized by a group calling itself “Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West,” while thousands more protested against them.

Police in the eastern city said the 10,000-strong rally by the group known by its German acronym PEGIDA, and the counter-demonstration by about 9,000 others, were peaceful.

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New South Wales: Council gives green light to Islamic centre

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Penrith anti-Muslim protest
Islamophobes protest in Penrith against the community centre (photo: Black Flag – Western Sydney Peoples Collective)

Protestors have again failed to sway Penrith councillors from stopping plans for an Islamic community centre from going ahead.

A rescission motion was brought before Penrith Council on Monday night to reject the approval granted to an Islamic ­centre in Kemps Creek on November 24 but it was defeated 10 votes to four. Councillors Marcus ­Cornish, Kevin Crameri, Maurice Girotto and Mark Davies moved the motion in their latest attempts to block the development, citing concerns around traffic, sewerage and public opposition to the development.

All these concerns were addressed in the report tendered to council with the recommendation that the development application be approved subject to special conditions.

Prior to the meeting local residents protesting against the community centre had to be kept separated by a strong police presence from Antifa (an anti-fascist group) protesters. One man was ejected from the public gallery after refusing to apologise for shouting abuse at the Mayor Ross Fowler and repeated the abuse as he left the council chamber.

The rescission motion marks the second time that councillors Marcus Cornish and Maurice Girrotto have tried to have Islamic developments overturned in the Kemps Creek area.

During general business an urgent motion was moved requesting Cr Marcus Cornish to retract his statements and apologise to Liverpool Council and the residents of Liverpool over his previous assertions that Penrith’s neighbour was beset with crime because of its high Islamic population.

Cr Cornish again refused to back away from his comments. “I hold to those comments and I represent the people of Penrith just as I always have,” Cr Cornish said. “Given the track record at Liverpool Council with their economic and social situation they shouldn’t be telling me what to do.”

A later motion was moved for the Penrith mayor to write to Liverpool Council outlining that Cr Cornish’s comments in no way reflect that of Penrith Council in general.

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Wilders tells police he stands by anti‑Moroccan comments

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders said on Monday he had told police officers questioning him on discrimination charges that he stood by anti-Moroccan comments he made in March.

“I do not retract anything I have said,” Wilders, whose Party for Freedom (PVV) is leading opinion polls, said in a statement on Monday.

“In my fight for freedom and against the Islamisation of the Netherlands, I will never let anyone silence me. No matter the cost, no matter by whom, whatever the consequences may be,” he said.

Thousands of complaints were sent to police in March and April after Wilders spoke to a crowd chanting for “fewer, fewer, fewer” Moroccans in the Netherlands, during campaigning for local elections.

Wilders told the crowd: “We’ll take care of that.” In a later TV interview, he referred to “Moroccan scum”.

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