'Casuals United' - English Defence League
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, ... 13, 14, 15  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Couchtripper Forum Index -> News mash
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
faceless
admin


Joined: 25 Apr 2006

PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 6:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

14.11.2009 Unite Against fascism march against the Scottish Defence League
Snarling racists bring shame to Scotland
MAJOR POLICE OPERATION PREVENTS CLASHES BETWEEN PROTEST GROUPS
By Graham McKendry, Nicola Stow and Chris Costello,
15/11/2009
newsoftheworld.co.uk

FACES twisted with hate as they scream their sickening bile, racist morons shamed Scotland yesterday. Around 70 members of the newly formed Scottish Defence League took to Glasgow's streets to spread their vile anti-Muslim message. As ordinary shoppers looked on in fear and disgust, the snarling, right-wing yobs chanted foul-mouthed sectarian slogans and held up banners proclaiming: "Ban the Burqa". Some made Nazi salutes while others flicked V-signs and other offensive gestures at cops and passers-by.

A major police operation involving hundreds of officers stopped clashes between the thugs and anti-racist protesters degenerating into a riot. Only five arrests were made. But last night a horrified onlooker said: "It was absolutely DISGUSTING that this mob were allowed into the city."

Sickeningly, the hate group's march came in the same week that evil Christopher Miller, 25, was caged for at least 18 years for the racist murder of Indian navy officer Kunal Mohanty, 30, in the city's Gorbals district - and the BNP took fourth place in the Glasgow North East by-election. But the SDL's nauseating protest was dwarfed by a counter-demo held by Scotland United to celebrate the nation's multi-culturalism.

The News of the World followed the SDL scumbags as they tried to create MAYHEM across the city. We looked on as a group of around 15 were cornered by cops at the Iron Horse Bar, near Central Station. One by one, the shaven-headed neds, full of cheap beer, were taken from the pub and photographed by uniformed officers. After being questioned and their identities noted, they were marched to the nearby Cambridge Bar - which had been cordoned off by cops.

Bemused shoppers watched as cops armed with CS gas canisters escorted them through the city centre. Dozens of police cars and vans lined the streets in the Cowcaddens as cops on motorbikes circled the area and a helicopter kept watch from above. More SDL groups arrived and were photographed by cops before joining their twisted cronies on the other side of the cordon.

The neds hung their banners on windows and chanted bigoted slogans. A full-scale battle looked to be on the cards as anti-fascist protesters arrived on the scene. But police officers quickly moved into position to keep the baying mobs apart. For around 40 minutes, the protesters stood in lashing rain to TAUNT the SDL, who remained under tight police guard in the pub. The stand-off was resolved when the anti-fascist group headed off to join the Scotland United demo. Only then were the SDL racists allowed to emerge from the pub to stage their own protest.

An army of cops surrounded them as they trudged towards Sauchiehall Street waving banners and chanting more vile slogans. Some passers-by heckled the yobs before the SDL members were rounded up and marched on to waiting buses. Under a heavy police escort, the sneering creeps banged the double-deckers' windows and continued shouting. They were driven to Kinning Park in the south side of the city before being dispersed.

A large police presence remained in the city centre to ensure SDL members didn't try to return. But there were clashes at busy Central Station involving some racists and campaigners from United Against Fascism. A witness told the News of the World: "A group of protesters went charging at the SDL lot, shouting 'Nazi Scum'. But cops managed to intervene before anyone was hurt. About four men were then bundled into police vans."

Meanwhile, around 1,500 people marched through Glasgow to show their DISGUST for the SDL's right-wing extremists. The protest was organised by Scotland United, a group backed by politicians, trade unionists and faith groups. Lawyer Aamer Anwar was among the speakers at a rally in Glasgow Green, which was followed by a march to George Square and a minute's silence for victims of racial violence. Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon condemned groups that perpetuate hatred and bigotry. She said: "It is important for the whole nation to send a clear message condemning all forms of bigotry and discrimination."

Last night Assistant Chief Constable Fiona Taylor said: "Having two high-profile demonstrations in the city at the same time was always going to be a challenge. But the day passed off with only minor incidents reported." She confirmed five people were arrested for breach of the peace.

---------------

The News of The World being so clearly against the knuckle-draggers is interesting.

And here's The Herald's story...
�Not Here�
Jasper Hamill
15 Nov 2009

Standing precariously on a bin as thousands of people swarmed into George Square banging drums and chanting, anti-racist campaigner Aamer Anwar yesterday proclaimed a victory for the people of Glasgow over �racism, fascism and the Scottish Defence League (SDL)�. His celebration followed a day in which the far-right group�s threat to march on Glasgow Central Mosque came to nothing, as police penned its members into a pub before bussing them to various spots on the periphery of the city, extinguishing the chances of a conflict before it had the chance to ignite. There were a few minor skirmishes in and around the city centre between the tiny SDL contingent and rival demonstrators, who were out in their thousands. Five people were arrested.

Although both sides claimed to have achieved their aims, the sheer numbers that mustered under the banner of Scotland United, a broad-spectrum alliance of political parties, trade unions and civil society groups, demonstrated that most of Glasgow has little truck with the �anti-Islamic� policies of the SDL and its English counterpart.

Mr Anwar, speaking at the head of a thousand protesters as they marched into George Square, said: �Just over 100 members of the Scottish and English Defence Leagues came to Glasgow today, skulked in a pub and were then bussed off away from the city centre. We proved that the only group that the people of Glasgow would tolerate on their streets were Scotland United. I would call this a victory.�

We have enough problems in this city without them stirring up hatred. They have no place here
Daniel O�Donnell, SNP member

The SDL, announced plans to march in Glasgow several months ago after the English Defence League (EDL) attracted hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of supporters to rallies in cities including Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham. The groups formed to protest exclusively against what they view as Islamic extremism, and claim to be a new political movement which has dispensed with the racist policies of far-right parties like the British National Party (BNP). But critics, such as Mr Anwar, claim they are nothing but �a violent wing of the British National Party�.

Yesterday, the first protest in a day of political action in Glasgow took place at St Enoch Square at 10am. Organised independently of Scotland United, the demonstration was made up of socialists, left-wing students and anti-fascists, who gathered outside the underground station before marching up Buchanan Street, chanting �Nazi scum off our streets� and �we�re black, white, Asian and we�re Jews�.

Daniel O�Donnell, a 61-year-old member of the Scottish National Party and veteran of anti-fascist protests, said: �Far-right and fascist movements have got more publicity now than I remember them ever having before, particularly after the BNP were allowed to speak on Question Time. The Scottish Defence League claims to be different from the BNP, but on paper, say critics, they look the same. This is not about showing the SDL who�s boss, but showing them that they are not welcome in Glasgow. We have enough problems in this city without them stirring up hatred. They have no place here.�

This splinter protest was organised by people who backed the aims of Scotland United but felt a bulwark against the Defence League was needed early in the day. Scotland United�s Glasgow Green rally was not until noon, which gave the SDL all morning to march the streets.

Sam Beaton, a 21-year-old student, said he and his fellow protesters had gathered to make sure the SDL demonstrators knew there would be someone to stand up against them if they took to the streets of Glasgow. He said: �We�re mobilising here against the SDL, to make sure there is an anti-fascist presence in the town centre all morning. We have to be prepared for them, even if they decide to use violence. We�re not scared because we are a bigger, broader movement than them. They will not cause the same trouble they did in Leeds and Manchester.�

An hour after the protest started in St Enoch Square, the SDL gave out information about its meeting point on a phone number it had advertised on internet bulletin boards. Its members had organised the demonstration in secrecy on Facebook, other social networking sites and online discussion forums, withholding their exact plans from police and the city council. The Sunday Herald was at the meeting point, a small pub in the city centre called The Cambridge where around 150 activists gathered, although police claimed there were only 70. Some covered their faces with scarves as they chanted and waved banners in the street.

Several key members of the SDL and EDL had been stopped on their way to the pub and some claimed to have been visited by officers from Strathclyde Police and banned from the city centre for the day. Hundreds of police had formed a cordon around the pub, refusing to let anyone in or out. Inside,the leader of the SDL, who would only give his name as Don, attacked the anti-fascist protesters, claiming they were �spouting tired old rubbish� by labelling the SDL Nazis or racists.

Don said: �As soon as you say anything you�re labelled a racist, a Nazi, a fascist or a knuckle-dragging skinhead. We�re none of those things. We just want to highlight the Islamification of the country and show people that some, not all, young Muslims are having hate and militancy preached to them. People say that this sort of thing doesn�t happen in Scotland, but it is. I bet they didn�t think someone would try to blow up Glasgow Airport. We don�t want young Muslim schoolboys to be radicalised, go away to train and then come back to blow up the city.�

In The Cambridge, there was a febrile atmosphere. The curtains were closed but the bar stayed open, serving pints to the SDL contingent, who mostly resembled old-school skinheads, replete with tattoos. They were loath to give their names, and insisted we took no photos. One member from the Airdrie branch said: �We�re just here to protest against extremist Islam and Republican terrorists, who have tried to take over our country for 40 years and failed. We�re not racist, we�re not Nazis and we�re not the BNP. I�ve got black friends and Muslim friends � race doesn�t bother me.� He added: �Our great-grandfathers fought and fell against the Nazis in two world wars. It�s a slur on our grand-fathers to call us Nazis.�

There was a brief stand-off as the anti-racist protesters from St Enoch Square marched near the pub, after using the SDL�s phone line to find out its location. They rallied for a few minutes before heading down to Glasgow Green to the mainstream Scotland United event to listen to the speakers.

After being penned into the bar from 11am until about 12.30pm, police briefly allowed the SDL members out to protest, giving them the opportunity to chant slogans like �no surrender to the IRA� or sing Rule Britannia. Police tolerated their protest for barely 20 minutes before packing them off in a bus. They were dumped at the Red Lion, a pub on Paisley Road West, and warned that anyone who tried to go back into town would be arrested.

The SDL�s original plans to march on Glasgow Central Mosque were thwarted at the point of application. Glasgow�s policy on marches is �somewhere between Northern Ireland and England� said a city council source, with special legislation designed to manage Orange marches. This means that while a static demonstration requires no permission from the council or police, any moving procession needs to be given the go-ahead by the authorities. However, the SDL�s application for a moving procession was made using only the first name, Donald. The council�s request for more information was rejected. When the SDL was warned that its members would not be allowed to use the streets to protest, it replied that they would be happy to use the pavement � something a council source said would still be illegal.

At the same time as the SDL�s brief protest, the Scotland United rally at Glasgow Green heard speakers including Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish Tory leader Annabel Goldie, Labour MP Mohammed Sarwar and the Rev Ian Galloway from the Church of Scotland. They praised Scotland�s multiculturalism and slammed the SDL, with Mr Sarwar labelling its members �nuts�. He said: �The message from here is loud and clear: BNP, Scottish Defence League, English Defence League are not allowed to march on the streets of Glasgow. Scotland is united against these thugs and fascists. I want to congratulate Glasgow City Council for rejecting the application from these nuts to march on the streets. I am proud to be a Glaswegian and a Scot, because we are different. There were confrontations in Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, but we are having a peaceful rally. People in England and Europe can learn a lot from us.�

In a rousing speech, Ms Sturgeon said: �I�m proud to be standing shoulder to shoulder with Scotland�s Muslim communities, with all of Scotland�s communities. We are a diverse county, a multicultural county and that is what makes us strong. We are proud to defend that multiculturalism every single day or whenever it is put under attack.�

Ahead of the Scotland United event Osama Saeed, chairman of the Scottish Islamic Foundation, said that the only people missing from the coalition were Muslim elders themselves. There had been frantic wrangling behind the scenes as Mr Saeed and Mr Anwar tried to persuade mosque elders to take part. Mr Saeed said: �The people running mosque don�t get involved in anything and tend to be very reclusive � this is another manifestation of it. A lot of them are immigrants and don�t see themselves as part of society, not the prominent actors they could and should be. It requires a huge change of mindset.�

After the Scotland United rally had finished, some 3500 people marched through the city towards George Square, where a minute�s silence was observed for the victims of racist killings in Scotland, including Indian naval officer Kunal Mohanty and Pollokshields teenager Kriss Donald.

Afterwards, Aamar Anwar claimed his coalition had inflicted a �humiliating defeat on the Nazi defence league�, but Don, the organiser of the SDL protest yesterday, gave one final warning: �He may say it�s a victory, but it�s hollow, because we�re not going nowhere. The next victory will be ours. We will stage demonstration after demonstration after demonstration. Today has gone well. We�ve had a peaceful protest, we�ve not hurt anybody. We�ve had the real victory today and won many more supporters. It�s been a big day for us.�

But not all SDL members agreed with Don. On the group�s Facebook site, even supporters were questioning the success of the Glasgow demonstration. In a post called Demo Today, one SDL member wrote: �I�m embarressed (sic).� Another wrote: �People were literally laughing at us like we were clowns.� He added: �What demo in Glasgow? People were too scared to leave the pub. What a f******* shambles wae people laughing at us?�, while another claimed: �It was an absolute shambles. �SDL� is utter pish.�

----------------
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Brown Sauce



Joined: 07 Jan 2007

PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 9:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"These morons would need to treble their IQ just to be plain stupid. "

'bout right ..
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
faceless
admin


Joined: 25 Apr 2006

PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 1:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

How Glasgow Stopped the Fascist 'Scottish Defence League'
Scottish Socialist Appeal
Wednesday,
18 November 2009
www.socialist.net

Saturday November 14th saw the Scottish Defence League's attempt at a Glasgow city centre rally fail miserably. The group spent most of the day confined in a pub, protected by hundreds of police, before being forced onto chartered buses in the face of a much larger counter demonstration. However, the story is not simply one of the far right being driven from the streets by a left wing demonstration. There are many political lessons to be learned from Saturday's events and the lead up to it which are important for those attempting to effectively oppose the English Defence League and its Scottish ally.

The Scottish Defense League originally announced plans to hold a rally in Glasgow in September. It is clear that this group is a Scottish branch of the 'English Defence League'. This organisation, spawned from the football hooligan group 'Casuals United', have held a series of demonstrations allegedly targeting “Muslim extremists.” In practice these have been violent racist affairs that have seen attacks on mosques, Asian small businesses, gay pubs, people with the “wrong” skin colour and the organised left. These demos have also seen the widespread use of Hitler salutes, it is evident that this group is supported by politically motivated neo-Nazi elements as well as racist football hooligans (not that they are mutually exclusive!). It's clear that there is a cross over between this group and the BNP, with members of the BNP having been seen on EDL events in spite of their party officially banning them from partaking in them.

Organsing to Oppose the SDL

The first attempts at organising a counter demonstration against the SDL march took the form of meetings called by the Glasgow University Left Society, starting from September 30th. The last two meetings were the largest with about fifty people attending. At these meetings there was a clear awareness of the need to have both a political response to the SDL and to confront the fascists. There was also an understanding that an effective counter-action could not be organised solely from the university and of the need to mobilise workers and youth on a wider scale. As a result of this extensive leafleting and postering was organised for two public meetings in the Southside of Glasgow.

In early October the left wing lawyer and activist Amir Anwar and 'Unite Against Fascist' announced a demonstration under the banner of 'Scotland United'. This was a police sanctioned demonstration with a definite route that was to assemble at 12.00 midday at Glasgow Green, not marching until 1' o'clock and with the support of the political establishment (including the Tories!) and religious organisations. The group organising around the Left Society came into contact with other groups opposed to what was obviously going to be an ineffective way of opposing the SDL from marching as, at this time, we knew they would be gathering much earlier than 13.00 pm. The Left Society came into contact with other groups with a similar outlook, this resulted in the calling of a demonstration at 10.00 am in the centre of town under the banner of 'Glasgow Anti-Fascist Alliance'.

Initially this demonstration was written off by UAF and Amir Anwar as a violent attempt to confront the SDL on an individualist basis. In contrast to this false assertion the demonstration at 10.00 am was widely built for, thousands of flyers were distributed across the city and posters put up around the University and in a large number of shops in the Southside. As it soon emerged that there was widespread support for the assembly at 10.00 am the UAF position changed and two days before the event they decided to support the demonstration

What happened on the day

On the morning of November 14th hundreds of people gathered at St Enochs Square in the city centre, with spotters relaying information back at around eleven o'clock that the SDL had gathered in the Cambridge Bar on Cambridge Street. At this point the decision was made to march, the gathering's size forcing the police to allow this. On approaching the pub the march had approximatly five hundred people. At this point the UAF contingent, having assembled on the other side of the street, attempted to put itself at the head of a demonstration they had played next to no role in building. Weyman Bennett, the nominal leader of UAF, began shouting down a megaphone that the march should redirect itself towards the UAF rally at Glasgow Green despite the fact the march would not be leaving until 13.00 pm! However because of the militant mood of the demonstration these calls were ignored and the whole body continued to move towards the Cambridge. The pub was protected by approximately 200 police standing in lines six deep. It became clear that as the front of the march approached that the police were bringing in reinforcements to create a kettle and block off the front of the march from the rest of it. It was evident they had been scared by the mobility of the march and its willingness to confront the fascists.

At this point the march regrouped and moved on past the pub. Eventually it was decided to redirect towards Glasgow Green, with the aim of returning when we got more information as to where the fascists were going to assemble; the information we had already indicated that there were fascists in multiple pubs and it would be dangerous for our forces to be stuck “kettled” outside one. However in retrospect this was a mistake, tactically it was wrong to go so far from the city centre, although the blame cannot entirely be put on the GAFA organisers who had been forced to make an impromptu call and had not called the demonstration at a location as far away as Glasgow Green. The GAFA march entered the Green as a united bloc five hundred plus strong and stayed together, which proved important in further developments. It also clearly demonstrated that it had not been a small march hell-bent on a violent confrontation and that it stood with the rest of the movement against the SDL.

The speeches began about twelve. At about 12.30pm we got information that the whole of the SDL forces had congregated outside the Cambridge and were beginning to try to move onto the streets. At this point a breakaway march emerged from Glasgow Green, made up of those who had been on the GAFA demonstration. Approximately three hundred people left the Green and marched towards the city centre. As a result the police hurriedly forced the SDL onto chartered buses and they were denied the ability to hold a public march. The SDL were only able to fill one and a half of the four buses waiting for them, the media have estimated their numbers as between seventy and one hundred. It is evident that they failed to achieve a large turnout and that militant action prevented them from being able to assemble effectively.

'Scotland United'

One of the comrades from Socialist Appeal remained at Glasgow Green trying to get people to march up to the Cambridge bar to support the previous breakaway. However some present argued that we could not leave until the speakers had finished and that we would not take a section of the demonstration with us. One person went to ask Amir Anwar and Weyman Bennett to stop the speeches and call the demonstration to leave. Of course they didn't oblige and the speakers continued after the designated setting off time of one o'clock, making it clear the organisers of the 'Scotland United' demo had no interest in confronting the fascists.

An argument that had been used against organising the 10.00 am assembly was that, when we knew where the SDL were to converge, the most militant activists in the demo could then pull a bigger section of the march to confront them. It was interesting to note that it was the same people who had argued this at previous meetings who on the day itself then argued not to breakaway to stop the fascists marching from the pub. The march eventually started to move surrounded by a line of police all along the sides. When it reached the exit of Glasgow Green the demo turned away from the town. At this point another attempt was made to organise people to set off for the town to support the previous breakaway, but these people were herded back into the main body of the march by UAF organisers. The procession was then led round the houses at a snail's pace, complete with a stop for a minute’s silence against racist murders. We have no principled objection to certain minute’s silences but when fascists are congregated ten minutes away it is not exactly the opportune time.

After forcing the SDL out of the city centre the breakaway marched to George Square, ready to move to oppose any SDL hangers on. The main body of the official demo eventually joined them.

After the rally was officially over a group of SDL were found on a nearby street corner. They were promptly dispersed by a far bigger group of those who had been involved in the counter demonstrations. Another group of fascists approached in order to attempt to reinforce their friends only to run away when they saw the numbers they faced. That they chose to do so whilst Hitler- saluting and eventually resorting to hiding behind a large police presence exposes the character of the SDL for what it is. The police formed a large blockade between ourselves and the fascists, promptly arriving en-mass on motorbikes and in vans. At this point one of the anti-SDL demonstrators was arrested and the whole demonstration warned over its conduct! The media reported throughout the day that there were five arrests. Since two appear to have been from those on our side this leaves only three SDL as being nicked, in spite of Hitler salutes and other such conduct which is meant to be illegal. Clearly we cannot rely on the police to stop fascism.

Lessons of the day

In drawing our conclusions on November 14th we must be clear that the differences on how to best confront the SDL were not simply practical considerations. They were clearly political in nature. The ideas behind the 'Scotland United' demo are not new, they represent the legacy of popular frontism; that is to say the strategy of a cross-class alliance to oppose fascism. In effect it led to a situation in Glasgow where revolutionary socialists were supposed to line up with ruling class representatives including Annabell Goldie, the leader of the Scottish Tories. That is to say oppose fascism by relying on those who are responsible for fanning it's flames whilst relying on the state to prevent the SDL from organising. Amir Anwar called on the crowd to cheer the police for apparently using the Public Order Act against the SDL. It was only through retaining mobility and organising on the basis of effectively opposing fascism by preventing the SDL from assembling that we were able to attain any level of success. On the day this was what prevented the SDL from having free reign of Glasgow, the demonstration in the morning forced the police to keep the SDL in the Cambridge pub and this demo laid the basis for the break away that ultimately prevented them from having a march in Glasgow.

The challenge posed by the far right, be it gathering on our streets or putting themselves up for election, needs a class based response. The trade unions and the wider labour movement as well as community groups in working class areas, students and ethnic minorities cannot rely on - or therefore ally with - the great and the good of the political establishment. This is the tactic that UAF have undertaken in Glasgow and nationally. We cannot rely on the police to prevent the far right from gathering, we can only rely on the mobilisation of working class people. In the past shop stewards networks and trade union organisation more widely played an important role in this. The unions need to break with the methods of diluting its forces to appease Liberals and the like and provide a clear independent opposition to the likes of the SDL. We had several trade union activists as part of the organising meetings for the 10.00 am mobolisation, and many trade unionists on the march itself. However, to fight the far right we need a general rank-and-file mobilisation organised by local shop stewards. In Glasgow we were criticised for organising independently of UAF and told we were siphoning off the most militant elements from the “mass of the demonstration.” In practice the most militant elements of UAF came with us. The demonstration at 10 o'clock was a united front. It was not simply the organised left that assembled but local workers and youth who we'd leafleted at Lidl’s on the Southside or seen a poster in the local shop. We've made the SDL think twice about trying this on again and laid the basis for a greater level of opposition if they do so.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
faceless
admin


Joined: 25 Apr 2006

PostPosted: Sat Dec 05, 2009 3:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote


Hooligans and anti-fascist protesters could clash at EDL demonstration
Shane Croucher
thelinc.co.uk
December 4, 2009

Football hooligans, or so-called �casuals�, from Lincoln are descending on Nottingham this Saturday, December 5th, for the English Defence League (EDL) demonstration, according to the EDL Lincoln Division Facebook page � an event which could lead to violent clashes between anti-fascist protesters and the EDL. The event on Facebook currently has 90 confirmed attendees from Lincoln.

According to the group: �[The EDL] are not racist, but we want Islamic extremists off our streets!� However, one of the group�s administrators has written on the wall saying: �Let�s be out in force and do Lincoln and England proud, and show these Muslim scum we shall never surrender! For Queen and country.� The same person has posted a link to a petition which advocates the banning of Islam. Another member of the group made racist comments underneath a photo of some Asian men, saying: �Some nice people get let into the country� can�t believe the immigration system� all they do anyway is sell drugs and rape white women.�

A picture of a flag bearing the name of Lincoln�s gang of football hooligans, the �Lincoln Transit Elite�, has been uploaded to the page. Another picture of a flag uploaded includes a tribute to fascist organisations such as the BNP, National Front, and Combat 18. More pictures depicting football hooliganism, alongside pro-Loyalist images, have also been uploaded.

Lincoln Socialist Students society has organised a coach for people wishing to attend Saturday�s counter-demonstration in Nottingham.



EDL - Lincoln - 2009-12-05


----------------------



the flag says all that's required - linked to National Front, Combat 18 and the Ulster Freedom Fighters along with the logo for Glasgow Rangers. Nice.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
faceless
admin


Joined: 25 Apr 2006

PostPosted: Sat Dec 05, 2009 6:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

EDL Rally - Nottingham

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/8396994.stm

---------------
Below is the anti-EDL march walking into the city centre. Lovely stuff.



click here for a photo stream

Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
faceless
admin


Joined: 25 Apr 2006

PostPosted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 11:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote



This is England: Masked like terrorists, members of Britain's newest and fastest - growing protest group intimidate a Muslim woman on a train en route to a violent demo

By BILLY BRIGGS

2 January 2010



On Platform One at Bolton station a mob of around 100 men punch the air in unison. The chant goes up: 'Muslim bombers, off our streets, Muslim bombers off our streets...' Their voices echo loudly and more men suddenly appear; startled passengers move aside. The group march forward waving St George Cross flags and holding up placards. The throng of men around me applaud. A train heading for Glasgow draws up on the opposite platform and the men turn as one, bursting into song: 'Engelaand, Engelaand, Engelaand.' Some of the men hide behind balaclavas, others wear black hoodies. A few speak on mobile phones, their hands pressed against their ears to block out the cacophony.

'It's already kicking off in Manchester. This could be tasty,' shouts one. These are some of the most violent football hooligans in Britain and today they have joined together in an unprecedented show of strength. Standing shoulder to shoulder are notorious gangs - or 'firms' as they are known - such as Cardiff City's Soul Crew, Bolton Wanderers' Cuckoo Boys and Luton Town's Men In Gear.

The gathering is remarkable, as on a match day these men would be fighting each other. But it is politics that has drawn them together. They are headed for Manchester to support a march by the burgeoning English Defence League. The police are here in force, too. 'Take that mask off,' barks a sergeant to one young man. He does so immediately but protests: 'Why are they allowed to wear burkas in public but we're not allowed to cover our faces?' 'Just do what you're told,' the policeman snaps back.

'It's always the same these days. One rule for them and another for us. I'm sick of this country,' a man standing next to me says in a West Country accent. He draws on a cigarette then flicks it to the ground in disgust. He starts to complain again but when the tannoy announces the arrival of the train to Manchester Piccadilly he raises his hands above his head and starts another favourite. 'Rule Britannia, Britannia rule the waves... Britons never, never, never...' His companions join in. As the train comes to a halt the crowd surges forward.

The carriages are almost full so the men pack themselves into the aisles followed by policemen speaking into radios. A group of lads drinking beer at a table eye the new contingent warily. One man wearing a baseball cap clocks their fear and reassures them. 'It's all right lads, nothing to worry about. We're protesting against radical Islam. Come and join us.'

Further up the carriage another bursts into song. 'We had joy, we had fun, we had Muslims on the run,' he starts up. Nobody joins in and a couple of his mates tell him to 'shut up' as they point to a woman dressed in a black hijab sitting at a table. A man standing close to her is masked and holds a placard. It has a picture of a Muslim woman crying with red blood streaming down her face. 'Sharia law oppresses women!' the slogan reads.



The rise of the English Defence League has been rapid. Since its formation at the start of the summer the group has organised nearly 20 major protests in Britain's cities, including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Luton, Nottingham, Glasgow and Swansea. Its leaders are professional and articulate and they claim that the EDL is a peaceful, non-racist organisation. But having spent time with them, there is evidence that this movement has a more disturbing side. There is talk of the need for a 'street army', and there are links with football hooligans and evidence that violent neo-Nazi groups including Combat 18, Blood and Honour and the British Freedom Fighters have been attending demos.

Violence has erupted at most of the EDL's demonstrations. In total, nearly 200 people have been arrested and an array of weapons has been seized, including knuckledusters, a hammer, a chisel and a bottle of bleach. As the EDL gains support across the UK, Muslims have already been targeted in unprovoked attacks. In the worst incident, a mob of 30 white and black youths is said to have surrounded Asian students near City University in central London and attacked them with metal poles, bricks and sticks while shouting racist abuse. Three people - two students and a passer-by who tried to intervene - were stabbed.

Following the Manchester protest, when 48 people were arrested during street violence, the Bolton Interfaith Council Executive issued a stark warning that race relations were under threat and Communities Secretary John Denham compared the EDL to Oswald Mosley's Union of British Fascists, who ran amok in the Thirties. In response to these fears, the National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit, a countrywide police team set up to combat domestic extremism, has been investigating the EDL. 'The concern to me is how groups like this, either willingly or unwillingly, allow themselves to be exploited by very extreme right-wing groups like the National Front and the British Freedom Fighters,' Metropolitan Police chief Sir Paul Stephenson has said.

I had met the English Defence League for the first time in Luton three weeks before the Manchester demonstration. After several calls, key members agreed to talk on the condition that I did not identify them. We met at a derelict building close to Luton town centre. Eleven men turned up. All wore balaclavas, as they often do to hide their identities, and most had black EDL hoodies with 'Luton Division' written on the back. They'd made placards bearing slogans such as 'Ban the Burka'.

The group's self-proclaimed leader, who goes by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson, did most of the talking. A father of two, Robinson explained the background to the rise of the movement. 'For more than a decade now there's been tension in Luton between Muslim youths and whites. We all get on fine - black, white, Indian, Chinese... Everyone does, in fact, apart from these Muslim youths who've become extremely radicalised since the first Gulf War. This is because preachers of hate live in Luton and have been recruiting for radical Islamist groups for years. Our Government does nothing about them so we decided that we'd start protesting.'

Robinson could barely conceal his anger as he explained that the spark for him had been the sight of radical Muslims protesting when soldiers paraded through the town on their regiment's return from Afghanistan in May. Following the incident Robinson set up a group called United People of Luton and, after linking up with a Birmingham-based organisation called British Citizens Against Muslim Extremists and another called Casuals United (largely made up of former football hooligans), they realised there was potential for a national movement. 'We have nothing against Muslims, only those who preach hatred. They are traitors who should be hanged and we'll keep taking to the streets until the Government kicks them out.'

More than 100 divisions have been set up across Britain and a careful co-ordination means the EDL is becoming efficient and a potential catch-all for every far-right organisation in Britain. Robinson admits that he has attended BNP meetings in the past. Another prominent member and administrator of Luton EDL's Facebook group is Davy Cooling, a BNP member. Sean Walsh, an activist for the EDL in Luton, is a member of the BNP's Bedfordshire Facebook group. Even within the EDL there are concerns over links to extremists. A former member called Paul Ray recently claimed that the group had been hijacked by BNP activists, including a man from Weston-super-Mare, Chris Renton, who helped set up the EDL website. Ironically, Ray himself has extremist contacts, including a German former neo-Nazi who is friends with Northern Ireland Loyalist Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair.



Casuals United was the brainchild of Jeff Marsh, a convicted football hooligan from Cardiff City's Soul Crew, one of the most feared gangs in Britain. Marsh operates behind the scenes, orchestrating activities with both Casuals United and the Welsh Defence League, a sister group of the EDL. The public face of Casuals United is another Welshman called Mickey Smith. An avowed football hooligan, he is banned from Cardiff City's football ground. Together, Marsh and Smith organise the 50 or so gangs actively recruiting members across the UK.

The EDL insists it is separate from Casuals United, but dig a little and it becomes clear they operate hand-in-hand. Joel Titus is a cocky but politically naive 18-year-old Arsenal fan of mixed race. He tells me that the EDL youth division he runs has over 300 members across the UK. 'We want to hit every town and city in Britain,' he says.

Titus became involved with the movement through Casuals United. And according to anti-fascism magazine Searchlight, his role is to recruit football hooligans. He sticks to the 'peaceful movement' mantra but a text I later receive from him ahead of an EDL demo in London reveals his involvement with the hooligans. It reads: 'Right lads, the "unofficial" meet for the 31st (London) is going to be 12 o'clock at The Hole In The Wall pub just outside Waterloo Station. I will be there just before that. Remember lads were (sic) going as Casuals Utd and if you could obtain a poppy to wear it would make us look good even if we are kicking off. lol. Cheers lads. Joel "Arsenal" Titus.'

Alarmingly, the EDL is becoming more sophisticated and those orchestrating its activities at the top are far more astute than its foot soldiers. I meet two of the EDL's key figures in a Covent Garden pub - a respectable looking man called Alan Lake, and a man who goes by the moniker 'Kinana'. Lake is a 45-year-old computer expert from Highgate, north London who runs a far-right website called Four Freedoms. This summer he contacted the EDL and offered to both fund and advise the movement. 'Our leaders in this country no longer represent us,' he says. Lake's aim is to unite the 'thinkers' and those prepared to take to the streets. He describes this marriage as 'the perfect storm coming together'. Lake says that street violence is not desirable but sometimes inevitable. 'There are issues when you are dealing with football thugs but what can we do?'

He criticises fascist organisations, however, and says he will only support the EDL so long as it doesn't associate with the BNP. When I ask about extremists hijacking the movement, he says: 'There are different groups infiltrating and trying to cause rifts by one means or another, or trying to waylay the organisation to different agendas. The intention is to exclude those groups and individuals.'

These men are outwardly intelligent and their political nous combined with the brawn of the casuals makes them a quasi-political force. Britain's neo-Nazis realise this. For Kevin Watmough, leader of the neo-Nazi British People's Party and a former member of the National Front, the rise of the EDL is reminiscent of the Seventies. 'The protests remind me of the National Front marches, but I wouldn't march with the EDL because they have blacks as supporters,' he told me. But other neo-Nazis have joined EDL demos. These include members of Combat 18 and the British Freedom Fighters, who later posted videos of themselves on the internet.

Watmough lives in Bradford and can recall the 2001 riots, which came about as a result of tensions between whites and Muslims. Bradford, along with Oldham, another tinderbox northern city that witnessed riots in 2001, is a stated target for the EDL and Casuals United in 2010. Tension is likely here and in other towns where the EDL is also promoting spontaneous flash demos and the occupation of building sites for new mosques.

Professor Matthew Goodwin, an expert on far-right organisations who has advised the Home Office, says that the police are right to monitor the EDL and to take them seriously. '(The EDL) is now well-organised and not just a minor irritant. It has become a rallying point for a number of different groups and to have them marching through sensitive areas is a major concern.' Communities Minister John Denham has also condemned the rise of the EDL: 'If you look at the types of demonstrations they have organised, the language used and the targets chosen, it looks clear that it's a tactic designed to provoke, to get a response. It's designed to create violence. And we must all make sure this doesn't happen.'
--------------------------
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
faceless
admin


Joined: 25 Apr 2006

PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 11:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Neo-Nazis launch web plot to attack Republican march in Glasgow
Jan 10 2010
Stephen Stewart,
Sunday Mail

A MOB of English neo-Nazi thugs plan to battle Irish republicans on the streets of Glasgow. The football hooligans, right wingers and loyalists, under the Scottish Defence League banner, have secret plans to cause chaos at a march next week to mark the 38th anniversary of the Derry Bloody Sunday massacre. A Sunday Mail investigation has revealed that SDL yobs aim to attack marchers from Irish republican groups on Sunday.

SDL fanatics were forced out of Glasgow in November after failing to stoke racial hatred. Hundreds of police hemmed in around 70 racists and BNP thugs as they met at a city centre pub after failing to march on the central mosque.

An SDL organiser called "Beight", said: "I urge SDL supporters to let these vermin know that their presence is not welcome on Scotland's streets." A spokesman for Cairde Na hÉireann, an Irish republican support group in Scotland, said: "Groups should be entitled to demonstrate and not suffer because of the violent actions of others." Strathclyde Police's Chief Superintendent Bernard Higgins said officers had met with march organisers and council officials to discuss safety arrangements.

"The event organisers intimatedat this meeting that they now plan to withdraw their application," he added.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
faceless
admin


Joined: 25 Apr 2006

PostPosted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 6:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote


Five Luton men found guilty after abusive chants at soldiers
Muslim men who called parading troops baby killers and murderers are convicted of threatening behaviour
11 January 2010

Five Muslim men accused of yelling abuse at British soldiers and calling them rapists, murderers and baby killers during a homecoming parade have been found guilty of a public order offence. There were angry scenes during the parade in Luton for 2nd Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment, known as the Poachers, on 10 March last year.

Munim Abdul, 28, Jalal Ahmed, 21, Yousaf Bashir, 29, Shajjadar Choudhury, 31, and Ziaur Rahman, 32, all from Luton, were convicted at Luton magistrates court today of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress. Jubair Ahmed, 19, and Ibrahim Anderson, 32, also from Luton, were acquitted of the same charge.

Police had agreed to let activists gather and protest at the event in March last year but their behaviour meant officers felt obliged to intervene and make arrests, the court heard. As the troops filed past a large crowd in the town centre, the placard-carrying protesters shouted slogans at them, prosecutor Avirup Chaudhuri said, including "British army murderers", "British soldiers burn in hell", "baby killers shame on you" and "British soldiers, you will pay".

The protesters were moved from their initial position but continued to shout abuse at the soldiers. They were eventually escorted away by police. Officers filmed the event and after viewing the footage decided to make the arrests.

---------------------

This was the event that lead to the EDL forming. 5 guys shouting in a street apparently means there's a MASSIVE movement of extremist maniacs coming to take our FREEDUMMMZZZZ!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
faceless
admin


Joined: 25 Apr 2006

PostPosted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 12:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Violence fears as anti-Muslim group plans march in Capital
LAURA CUMMINGS
11 January 2010
Edinburgh Evening News

FEARS have been raised over possible clashes between anti-fascists and the organisers of a planned anti-Muslim demonstration in the Capital. The right-wing Scottish Defence League (SDL) plans to hold the demonstration next month, sparking concerns among the Edinburgh Anti-Fascist Alliance about possible violence. It follows the SDL march in Glasgow in November, which descended into violence involving anti-fascist protesters.

The Alliance has also asked more than a hundred pubs in the city to ban the SDL from entering the premises prior to the demonstration, and to report any SDL meetings to the police. A spokesman for the Edinburgh Anti-Fascist Alliance said the group was hopeful that Lothian and Borders Police would prevent the march from going ahead. He said: "The SDL are a fairly violent organisation. Hopefully the police will recognise this and prevent the march. We would be concerned if the police didn't take the SDL seriously because they are basically football hooligans and racists. There could be clashes if it does go ahead, but this is not something we want to happen. If the police don't stop the march, we will be there to stop it from happening by peacefully blocking their way. We are going to prevent them from marching anywhere through having a large counter-demonstration.

He added: "We are obviously not planning for any violence to occur at all, we are just planning for a peaceful demonstration. We don't believe that they have the right to walk through Edinburgh and intimidate Asian people and exacerbate racial tensions."

The controversial SDL, an offshoot of the English Defence League, has met in pubs before previous demonstrations. Chief executive of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, Paul Waterson, added: "It's really up to the pubs themselves who they decide to let in." Co-owner of Gladstones in Leith, Peter Swanson, 49, said: "I wouldn't knock anybody back because of their religious beliefs or creed, but any racist group is definitely not welcome in my pub." The march is due to take place on the same day as both a Middle East film festival in the city and a Hearts v Hamilton game, sparking fears that the group hopes to attract football casuals.

Director of Edinburgh & Lothians Racial Equality Council, Nina Giles, said: "The SDL are a violent, extremist group. Any individual that holds that kind of hatred towards any group is not healthy. If the march does go ahead, it's quite worrying that these type of views would be given a platform."

It is understood that the exact route of the march, planned to take place on 20 February, has not yet been arranged. A police spokesman said: "We are aware of the possibility of a demonstration taking place, however no permission has been sought from the city council." A council spokeswoman said: "The religious aspect of this particular march would have no bearing on a temporary traffic regulation order decision."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
faceless
admin


Joined: 25 Apr 2006

PostPosted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 1:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Let's hope it really is 'business as usual' amid extreme demos
22 Jan 2010
Matt Taylor
pitsnpots.co.uk

Police are urging residents, business-owners and visitors to the city that it is business as usual tomorrow, despite the perceived threat of English Defence League members descending upon Stoke-on-Trent.

Police have been contacting businesses which could be affected by the demonstration to ensure that everyone is aware, contingency plans can be made, and hopefully everything goes smoothly, as the force brings in officers from elsewhere in the midlands to boost its peace-keeping presence.

Superintendent Dave Mellor's message is: "I want to minimise the disruption that this event may cause and allow you to go about your normal daily business."

The reason for which the rally has caused such concern is due to trouble other cities where similar things have taken place, and activists have clashed with members of opposing demonstrations, and muliple arrests have followed. However, it is hoped that the city's force is better placed to deal with any trouble that does materialise having learnt from mistakes elsewhere. And although police may not prevent such a demonstration, for as long as it remains peaceful, and rightly so, in the name of free speech, they are able to prevent them marching around the town, a move known to have escalated problems in the past.

Members of the EDL or EWDL (English Defence League or English and Welsh Defence League) have been described typically as appearing somewhat similar to what you might expect of a football hooligan. As a result police have warned bars to be on the lookout for the cliched Burberry checked caps, and Stone Island sweaters. And it is this kind of association which has sent the alarm bells out, not forgetting the amount of media coverage which has once again seen Stoke appear to the nation as a hotspot of racial tension.

But what actually makes this event have the potential to become violent is the fact that there will not only be one extreme group appearing in the city centre tomorrow, but two. As well as the EDL, who will be spreading their message in Old Hall Street, opposite Argos, in the area once home to drunks and shoplifters (and Mike Wolfe's Ice rink!), and just around the corner, in eyesight of the EDL demonstrators, will be members of an opposing protest group.

It is this part which seems odd in that it is likely to provoke confrontation, and yet it seems the police are powerless to prevent both groups appearing in the vicinity of each other. But, with a police force stronger than we have seen for anything else in Stoke-on-Trent, and businesses ready for any consequences that could prevail after the groups disperse, I am sure that tomorrow should go without a huge ordeal. And I hope people do go about their business as usual, and that the protest is nothing but peaceful. If nothing else, because we've had enough of Stoke's name being dragged through the mud.

-----------------

Stoke has one of the hgihest concentrations of BNP supporters in the country - this could be a big mess. All the best to those standing against the EDL scum.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
faceless
admin


Joined: 25 Apr 2006

PostPosted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 12:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote


The EDL Issue Terror Threats To Taxi Drivers
2010 January 25
by Liverpool Antifascists
liveraf.wordpress.com

Stooping to new fascist lows, the police and private hire companies have revealed how the paramilitary masked neo nazi thugs of the EDL issued racist death threats to taxi drivers throughout the Stoke district on the day of the EDL meeting, copying tactics used by loyalist paramilitaries in Belfast during the troubles, when Catholic taxi drivers were murdered by loyalist gangs for their religion.

Today, it has been revealed the worrying news that besides invading British town centres looking for fights under the premise of “opposing Islamic extremism”, the EDL have they themselves adopted terrorist tactics similar to the ones used by Northern Ireland terror groups during The Troubles, as the football hooligan gangs of the EDL consolidate their racism.

Taxi drivers have had to take evasive steps many times in Belfast and other parts of Northern Ireland to avoid lynchings or murder, however never before have virtually all the taxi companies in a large British city been warned keep off the streets. This terrifying development shows the sickening depths the violent drunken fascists of the British Far Right have sunk to, in their campaign of violence and fear that the authorities have done precious little to stop.

Most of Stoke’s large private hire car companies suspended service in and around the city centre on Saturday night after verbal threats aimed at their drivers by groups of right-wing extremists, and the threat of racial violence was so extreme, that the police gave out safety advice to the companies and their drivers of the risks to their lives if they went about their normal everyday business.

Approaching Holocaust Memorial, Day, in a chilling reminder of life in Nazi Germany when Adolf Hitler’s blackshirted thugs, an army of ordinary everyday racists (also known as the National Security Volunteer Militia) carried out Kristallnacht (Night of The Broken Glass, the anti-Jewish pogrom in Nazi Germany which paved the way for the Holocaust to happen), targetting Jewish businesses with violence, once the EDL’s phoney speeches had ended, and the EDL crowds were left to their own devices, more than 500 of the EDL’s most violent thugs remained behind, engaging in running battles with the police while smashing windows of Asian-owned businesses, while others made sickening death threats to Asian taxi drivers.

The taxi companies were threatened with violence and murder against any Asian drivers who drove around the streets of Stoke, who were suspected of being Muslim.

One of the companies targeted was Auto Cab Private Hire, working out of Normacot. They received many threatening calls over the phone, and after consulting with the local constabulary, the company manager Mr Basharat Hussein agreed to take his cars off the road to protect his drivers and passegners from violent assaults from violent Neo Nazi thugs.

City Centre Private Hire Company suspended service after a call from a sergeant at Tunstall police station warning them not to go out, and that work in Cobridge, a district with a notable amount of racist BNP supporters, was also dangerous. Other firms which ceased operating over the weekend as a result of death threats and police advice included Magnum Cars in Burslem and Lucky Seven of Longton.

Shops and stores in the city centre closed early as lack of trade made it the worst day many of them had ever had, some reporting takings down as much as 90%, and market stalls packed up just after lunchtime when the EDL thugs started to invade Stoke. Several policemen and women were injured by EDL nazis, but it was the death threats against Stoke’s Asian taxi drivers which was the most concerning factor about the EDL’s presence in Stoke.

In previous cities where the EDL have met, the organisation’s Goebels (Trevor Kelway) categorically blamed violence upon the shoulders of antiracist protestors, particularly Unite Against Fascism, claiming that if the UAF failed to turn up, there would be no problems at all.

In Stoke, many anti-racist campaigners were cautious to turn up in sizeable numbers because of the area’s far right pedigree (the antiracist demonstrators according to the BBC, outnumbered three to one, and the numbers of police were far less than in Nottingham and West Yorkshire), meaning the EDL were given a free reign to do what they pleased, which resulted in injuries for the police criminal damage, and worst of all, sporadic mini-riots in the multicultural outskirts of the city centre.

The EDL do not need the UAF to wreak havoc in the towns and cities of England. The EDL are plain and simple a gang of drunken racist thugs who will stop at nothing to beat up Asian people, socialists and anarchists. Amongst the worst offenders are the Lincoln LTE gang led by Combat18 thugs from Lincoln Loyal, and the Oldham branch of the EDL whose Oldham FC supporting members are most racist and fanatical, and some of whom are veterans of the oldham riots nine years ago.

Oldham EDL do not give a damn about Sharia Law or upholding the memory of British soldiers who died in Afganistan. Oldham’s football nazis are only in it for the “P*ki bashing” as they call it, as is BNP supporter and EDL co-founder Jeff Marsh who when chased into a Stoke park by the police, cried “BNP, BNP, BNP!!!” continually, before leading a sickening chant of “Paki loving bastards” at the police for stopping them from murdering Asian people.

The EDL might well be considering becoming a registered political party to distance themselves from the football thuggery they encouraged by their complicity, however at the moment, as several commentators have already pointed out, they could be banned tomorrow under anti-terror leglisation if the Home Secretary chose to do so. Causing race riots is their only aim, and their recently acquired terror tactics should be the nail in their coffin!!!!!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
faceless
admin


Joined: 25 Apr 2006

PostPosted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 6:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8525939.stm
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
faceless
admin


Joined: 25 Apr 2006

PostPosted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 2:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It turns out that the EDL leadership 'team' were arrested in Edinburgh yesterday... this is their response.

---------------

Official Statement Regarding
The Arrest Of The EDL Leadership Team

On Saturday 20th February 2010 Members of the leadership team of the English Defence League were arrested as they traveled to Scotland to support the Scottish Defence League demonstration. While in custody the team members homes and families homes were raided by police armed with automatic machine guns which terrified the leaderships family which included small children and other older family members. Computer equipment was seized during the 3 hour raid.

Leadership team members were banned from attending any meeting with more than 3 edl members then bailed to return to a police station in Sheffield in the near future.

We are asking every member of the EDL to be available to protest outside the police station when the team has to answer bail. (date to be confirmed).

We need to get the message across that we will not be silenced by being bullied by the authorities and our struggle against muslim extremism will continue.

We have agreed to cancel the Bradford demo as a small concession but will be announcing further protests as a result of the disgraceful treatment of our leadership team.

This is a call to mobilization.

We need every single person who supports the EDL to stand up and be counted and when required we need you to take to the streets in a peaceful and law abiding manner to support our leadership. More details will be released regarding demonstrations in the very near future.

If any EDL Members are arrested by the police please let EDL Media know as soon as possible as we are forming a group action and will be making an official complaint to the authorities in the near future.

Thank you in advance for your support. A video statement will be released within 24 hours of this notice.

Released on Sunday February 21st @ 13.21

---------------

Armed police raiding their homes and they want sympathy because *they've* put their own families in the firing line? Scummy bastards.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
SpursFan1902
Pitch Queen


Joined: 24 May 2007
Location: Sunshine State

PostPosted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 11:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quite a bunch...they act the way that they do and then worry about "...the disgraceful treatment of our leadership..." amazing...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
modern



Joined: 04 Jan 2009

PostPosted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 6:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Poor EDL. Maybe now they can empathise what 'Muslim Extremists' go through when they are raided by the police...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Couchtripper Forum Index -> News mash All times are GMT
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, ... 13, 14, 15  Next
Page 2 of 15

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You cannot download files in this forum


Couchtripper - 2005-2015