Fifty three members of English Defence League members were arrested on the M1 this afternoon whilst allegedly travelling to target a mosque London.
Members were said to have gathered in a pub in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, before boarding a furniture removal van. Police in riot vans pulled the van over after laying in wait for them on the motorway.
Among those arrested are EDL leader Tommy Robinson aka Stephen Yaxley Lennon and we also believe that Deputy leader Kevin Carroll who is also running for the Police commissioner’s position in Bedfordshire on behalf of the EDL’s political wing, the British Freedom Party has also been arrested as well as leader of the British Freedom Party, Paul Weston.
It is alleged that the hired vehicles was to be used as a Trojan horses in order to get large amount of fascists near to their targets quickly and efficiently.
This stunt is thought to have been carried out to boost Tommy Robinson’s profile after a series of disastrous demonstrations, most noticeably in Walthamstow, east London where they were escorted out of the area for their own safety whilst Tommy, Kev and Paul Weston disappeared back to Luton, leaving the 200 or so that has turned up mass arrested for hours and stranded in the Capital.
Earlier in the week Tommy had been bragging about his “boys day out” on Twitter.
See also “EDL confirm arrests of Tommy Robinson and Kevin Carroll”, Exposing the English Defence League, 20 October 2012
And “EDL chief ‘arrested'”, Daily Star on Sunday, 21 October 2012
According to the latter report, the EDL’s target appears to have been the East London Mosque.
Update: BBC News reports that the 53 EDL supporters have been bailed pending further inquiries, and adds: “One of the bail conditions imposed on the men bans them from entering east London to demonstrate for a stipulated period of time, police said.” So presumably that would exclude them from participating in next Saturday’s EDL protest in Walthamstow.