Author Archives: East Midlands Anti-Fascists

Teenager convicted for EDL graffiti in Leicestershire

A 17-year-old from Oadby in Leicestershire has pleaded guilty to two charges of racially-aggravated criminal damage for leaving graffiti outside a Oadby Central Mosque.

The teenager scrawled “EDL” on a charity bin outside the mosque and on the building’s windows on two separate occasions.

The graffiti appeared in the aftermath of the murder of Lee Rigby in London and at the hieght of fears about a racist backlash. In a statement read out in court, Muhammed Katib, chairman of the mosque, which is also a community centre, told how Muslims were in fear of being attacked.

According to the Leicester Mercury,

[Katib] said: “This really rang alarm bells.”

After the killing of Mr Rigby, mosques had been set on fire.

“We were on red alert and very concerned about what had happened,” said Mr Katib.

“We were fearful that the mosque would be damaged or set on fire or people would be attacked.”

Mr Katib told how the mosque was watched 24 hours a day for a while, and worshippers stayed away for fear of being targeted.

The teenager, who cannot be named because of his age (although we’ll keep an eye on teh interwebs in case he’s stupid enough to identify himself on Facebook) clearly isn’t very bright and was arrested after police identified his tag on the graffiti. When police raided his home, they found pens which matched the colour of the graffiti on the bin.

When arrested, the teenager said that he had heard about the Rigby murder and did not like it.

Now (unsurprisingly) he has expressed regret for his actions, saying “I am sorry if I caused any grief or fear or anything.”

He was given a 12-month rehabilitation order with supervision. He will be electronically tagged for two months and must observe a curfew between 9pm and 7am every day.


Guramit Singh in prison

Former EDL spokesman Guramit Singh Kalirai is now in prison after his brief period on the run.

Singh from Bramcote, Nottinghamshire, took to Facebook to make a long-winded proclamation of innocence in which he claimed he had “been in contact with metropolitan police and agreed to hand [himself] in,” although the Nottingham Post reported that he was “caught […] in Long Eaton on Sunday.”

The Nottingham Post glossed over his connections with the EDL, only mentioning them in connection with the “taunts” Singh directed at police on Facebook while on the run:

In a slap in the face for officers chasing him, he also posted updates saying he was at the London Eye last Thursday and Trafalgar Square last Friday.

He also ‘shared’ a status update posted by the Luton branch of the far-right group the English Defence League on September 17 – a day he was meant to be in court, which said: “Who is out on the booze with Guramit Singh tonight in Luton?”

This meeting is particularly interesting as it implies that Singh met-up with many of the (then) key figures in the EDL (an organisation which he claims no longer to be involved in) immediately before going on the run. As EDL News note:

It is difficult to believe that their conversation didn’t involve any mention of Kalirai’s plans to evade justice. Yet there’s no indication that Lennon or Carroll reported his plans to the authorities. No doubt the police will be inquiring into this.

Whether any of this will get in the way of the not-at-all extremist aspirations of the leadership which has since left the EDL remains to be seen.


Leicester EDL member faces terrorism charges

A teenager from Loughborough who was associated with the EDL’s Leicester division and claims to have been in contact with Tommy Robinson is currently on trial at the Old Bailey for “plotting a terrorist attack, having a terrorist manual, and possessing parts for an improvised explosive”. He kept a notebook of potential targets which included Loughborough mosque and had a Nazi flag above his bed.

Repost from the Loughborough Echo:

A 16-YEAR-OLD neo-Nazi from Loughborough plotted a Columbine-inspired school massacre using pipe bombs, knives, and a crossbow, the Old Bailey heard this week.

The English Defence League supporter stockpiled home-made bombs, terrorist manuals, and an array of weapons as he planned attacks on his former school and the college where he was studying for his A-Levels, the court was told on Wednesday.

He kept a notebook of potential targets, including Loughborough Mosque, REEL cinema, Loughborough University and council offices, and dubbed plans for an armed assault on his former school as ‘the new Columbine’, it is said.

Inspired by the violent Nick Cave film Outlaw and Heath Ledger’s portrayal of Batman nemesis the Joker in the Dark Knight, the teen allegedly drew up a list of teachers and pupils he wanted to murder.

He scrawled the mantra ‘When order fails, violence prevails’ in his notebook, which had Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara on the front alongside slogans including ‘EDL: No Surrender’, ‘British and Proud’, and Nazi Swastika drawings.

The teenager, who is now 17 and cannot be named because of his age, had a Nazi flag above his bed and wrote essays on his hatred of Muslims.

“You will be considering whether he is just a misfit, or whether he is something altogether more sinister and serious,” said prosecutor Max Hill QC.

“In light of the items he assembled, bombs etc, in light of what he wrote in this notebook, you need to consider whether he was in fact arrested in February this year before he could pursue any further a plan for, or intention, either to terrorise pupils and staff at his college against whom he bore a grudge, or whether he wanted to target other locations.”

The teenager, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, is accused of plotting a terrorist attack, having a terrorist manual, and possessing parts for an improvised explosive.

He and two other 17-year-old boys have already admitted possessing petrol bombs and pipe bombs.

Mr Hill said the ‘sheer weight’ of weapons the defendant is accused of possessing at his home in Loughborough set him apart from the other two boys.

“For any average young man, that list is startling,” he said.

“The eye stops at references to partially assembled petrol bombs, it stops upon the reference to pipe bombs, and upon the stab proof vest, on firearms and rifle pistols and the crossbow.”

The jury were shown extracts from the teenager’s notebook, allegedly outlining his attack plans.

He wrote: ‘Before we go into school gates, enter block and chain both exits shut.

‘Enter each classroom taking out the teachers.

‘Use explosives to eliminate most of the students.’

Mr Hill said: “What does he mean by plans and tactics for operation the new Columbine?

“Columbine is a high school in Colorado, USA, which was the scene of an infamous mass shooting in 1999.

“Two students of the college entered and killed more than a dozen of their fellow students and ultimately committed suicide on their own school premises.”

The defendant had drawn in his notebook stick figures with arrows showing where knives, a machete, a sawn-off air rifle, ammunition, and pipe bombs would be concealed inside a trench coat, the court heard.

Mr Hill said other parts of the book contain rantings against Muslims, calling for mass deportation to ‘stop the spread of Sharia law’.

“He is talking about British and European people rising up and fighting Islamic fascism that is sweeping the world,” said Mr Hill.

“He is a member of the EDL Leicester division and a supporter of the Knights Templar, which we suggest are far right wing British National movements.”

In among plans to make bombs out of jerry cans, which could be detonated by mobile phone, the teenager wrote about planning to bomb Loughborough Mosque, the court heard.

He wrote: ‘There’s too many Muslims in the UK and Europe, so we must stop them coming over here and send the ones already over here back home before they take over European governments and put Sharia Law in place.’

The teenager, who is supported in the dock by an intermediary because of his Asperger’s, denies possessing an article for a purpose connected with terrorism, possessing a document likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, and possessing an article for a purpose connected with terrorism.

He has pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon.

The would-be terrorist and his two pals dubbed themselves the United Revolutionary Army as they experimented with making and detonating home-made bombs, the court heard.

The 16-year-old and his two co-defendant donned balaclavas for a series of videos of them preparing Molotov cocktails out of wine bottles and white spirit.

In the first video, shot on February 16 last year, the defendant tells the camera: “This is the URA’s second attempt at a petrol bomb.”

His friend, also covering his face with a balaclava, then prepares the home-made bomb before throwing it at a wall where it explodes into flames.

Jurors heard the bomb tests were filmed at the back of a leisure centre in Loughborough, which is also home to a creche, between February and April last year.

“This is part of the evidence which shows possession of, and through the films, use of explosives,” said Mr Hill.

“These items are clearly dangerous, they clearly explode, causing fire and damage.

“You will have to consider making the allowances for a young defendant, but you have to also consider was this merely play on the part of the defendant and his friends or was it actually preparation for something more, bearing in mind what we know about him.”

Mr Hill said the URA graffiti has been seen sprayed on walls around Loughborough, and is believed to have been created by the defendant.

“They identify themselves as the Urban Revolutionary Army,” he said.

“It appears to be the name the defendant created for themselves.

“Sometime the R stands for ‘rebel’ rather than ‘revolutionary’.”

Mr Hill conceded that the videos are at times ‘funny’ and the attempts to make home-made bombs ‘haphazard’.

But he added: “Is this done for laughs, all self-amusement and clowning around, or does this support the conclusion it was for something more?”

The defendant even jokes to his pals on one of the videos: “If I die during this, split my guns between you.”

The jury were shown more of the teenager’s Che Guevara notebook, in which he is allegedly justifying his potential terrorist targets.

He said his second target after Loughborough Mosque is his community college, the court heard.

“He describes the reasons as personal rather than political, the choice was due to bad experiences he says he has had there,” said Mr Hill.

The teenager is then alleged to outline reasons for targeting Loughborough University, where he had been on work experience.

“It is a reference which may be informative and may in fact be rather chilling,” said Mr Hill.

Mr Hill said the teenager claimed he still had a university uniform which could potentially help gain access to certain areas which most people would not be allowed into.

The boy wanted to target the Reel Cinema in Castle Market, Loughborough, because of ‘the attitude of the staff and the prices of items’, the court heard.

He selected his sixth form college as a possible target if they did not accept him on his GCSE results.

In text messages to one of his co-defendants, the teen is said to further outline his racist ideology.

‘What black friends? I have hardly any friends and they don’t belong here,’ he says.

‘It’s called nationalism mate,’ he continues.

‘Don’t believe the propaganda on the news and on the street. There’s nothing wrong with being proud of your race and being willing to fight for it.’

He also writes in his notebook: ‘I don’t hate all Muslims, just the extremists, and the ones who think they can come to our country and do what they like.’

The trial continues.


Guramit Singh on the run

Guramit Singh (full name Guramit Singh Kalirai) was at one point a leading, indeed founding member, of the EDL. A spokesman for the group he spoke their demos and gave interviews to the media. He is now on the run after being convicted for a violent raid on a gardening shop in Hucknall, Nottingham.

Nottingham Post screenshotBBC Screenshot

According to the Nottingham Post:

Andrew Wheelhouse, 31, David Mura, 26, and Guramit Singh Kalirai, 31, went into gardening shop Simply Hydro, in Wigwam Lane, Hucknall, at about 12.30pm on Thursday, May 2, with the intention of raiding it.

They attacked a shop assistant, pinned him to the ground and threatened to slash his throat if he did not give them money.

All three were tried at Nottingham Crown Court and convicted  of attempted robbery. On Tuesday (24th September) all three were sent to prison, however Kalirai did a runner before the trial and was sentenced to six-and-a-half-years in prison in his absence. A warrant is out for his arrest.

Kalirai made much of his Sikh heritage, often carrying a Sikh flag on demos. This generated some consternation within the Sikh community. Following his conviction, Sikhs Against the EDL have publicly called for the Sikh community to help police capture the fugitive.

EDL bigwig Tommy Robinson told the BBC that Kalarai was no longer involved with the EDL, but had still found time to contact him:

Mr Robinson said Kalirai had been in touch with him while on the run to say he had not done anything wrong.

“He said he is working with his legal team to fight the conviction,” Mr Robinson said.

“It doesn’t seem like something he would have done.”

So that’s alright then.


BNP scraping the barrel for Euros

East Midlands BNP have announced their candidates for the 2014 Euro elections. The list is as interesting for who’s not on it as who is:

1. Cllr. Cathy Duffy.
2. Revd. Robert West.
3. Bob Brindley.
4. Steve Brammer.
5. To be decided.

The first two are obvious choices for the party as the most prominent BNPers in Leicestershire and Lincolnshire even though both did poorly in May’s local elections (West only managed to get 88 votes). Nottingham’s Bob Brindley, however, is anything but a “safe” choice. Brindley uses his Nottingham BNP twitter feed to launch increasingly barmy diatribes against Jews, homosexuality, Asians and just about everyone who isn’t a signed up white supremacist (although he has made an exception for serial paedophile Jimmy Savile).

Bob Brindley: Holocaust denial

Bob Brindley: Holocaust denial

HagueHomosexual 120913Frankfurt 120913270713Twit 200713

After Brindley comes Steve Brammer from Ranskill, North Nottinghamshire. Brammer is almost unknown to fascists in the Midlands, probably because he lives only a few miles from South Yorkshire. He has never stood in an election before.

"Fresh" blood: First time candidate Steve Brammer

“Fresh” blood: First time candidate Steve Brammer

And next in line after Brammer is… well it looks like they couldn’t find anyone else to stand for them! There are no candidates from Derbyshire or from Northamptonshire, no sign of “super activist” Paul Hilliard from Derby and no sign of “Heanor Patriot” Cliff Roper either. Have they jumped ship as well? We will see. Certainly Roper showed signs of a swing to a more extreme right wing position after losing his Amber Valley seat, headlining his blog with the notorious 14 word phrase beloved of neo-Nazis. Perhaps the BNP isn’t extreme enough for him any more?

The release of this list is a further sign of decline for the fascist party. Only a few years ago, the East Midlands were seen as one of the BNP’s strongholds. Now they are struggling even to find 5 people across the entire region to stand for them. Good riddance!


Stop the EDL in Sheffield

Some comrades from Sheffield have contacted us as part of their mobilisation against the EDL next weekend:

The English Defence League are planning on marching through Sheffield on 21st September. We want to make sure that the EDL don’t get to intimidate people and parade their hatred through the streets unopposed.

The EDL are planning on protesting in Sheffield Lane Top against an imaginary mosque (more details).

We’re hosting a public meeting on Monday 16th September at Sheffield Hallam Hubs on Paternoster Row, to plan the opposition to the EDL’s demo. All anti-fascists are invited!

On the day we plan to be mobile so we can effectively defend our communities. Follow us on facebook and twitter to keep up to date with our plans!

Stop the EDL in Sheffield

You know what to do!


Heavy manners in Tower Hamlets

The EDL are being very quiet about their latest failure this morning. Yesterday a pitiful 600 of their foot soldiers turned up for their latest “big one”, a demonstration that never had a chance of getting to Tower Hamlets. “Top boy” Tiny Tommy was arrested (to be debriefed by his handlers no doubt) at the end of the demo and several of the cannon fodder were nicked for carrying offensive weapons and fighting the police. Over a thousand people attended an anti-fascist rally at Altab Ali park and several hundred marched off in defiance of police restrictions. A group of over 100 actually made it to the EDL’s route before being kettled. Despite all of their macho bravado, the EDL were easily contained by the police but anti-fascists were much more effective.

AFN

The EDL is obsessed with the London borough, home to the East London Mosque and a large Muslim population. The last time they tried to go to Tower Hamlets, in 2011, they had 1,500 marchers on their side. Locals and anti-fascists made sure that they did not pass. This time the police drafted in a massive 3,000 officers to make sure that everything was locked down and resorted to the extremist tactic of arresting all 240 anti-fascists who were kettled near Tower Bridge and on Commercial Road. The charge? Disobeying the police!

Meanwhile, some fascist Leicester Casuals were also getting nicked. They’d decided to venture into the belly of the beast, the “no go area for whites” they’re always fantasising about and trying to control their terror as they passed the East London Mosque. Apparently, all the Muslim youth did was “chomped at us in some far away bongo bongo language” which they reckoned was a massive show of cowardice. Clearly disappointed that no one gave a fuck about them they were relieved to be bundled to safety by the police.

It was also a bad day for Craig Elliot, leader of the Leicester EDL who provides the sound system for EDL demos. He was arrested and held till midnight although he was cautious about saying what for. That will be one to look out for in the coming months.

In summary then, it was a very bad day for the EDL. The “Rigby bounce” has already been squandered, probably because more ordinary people who were duped into coming to their events have worked out what a bunch of racist losers they are and moved on. The turnout was very poor for a much-hyped national demo. They failed to go to Tower Hamlets for a second time. A much bigger and better organised anti-fascist movement turned out to oppose them and did a better job of challenging the police lockdown. The leadership were put under more police pressure with strategic arrests and late night chats in the cells. The EDL ship has no direction and is floundering.

Well done to the Anti-Fascist Network, South London Anti-Fascists and London Anti-Fascists for their great work in mobilising for the day! Solidarity with all anti-fascists arrested under police state laws! And great work by the Green & Black Cross who did some late night legal support for the arrested comrades.


New British Union: “ugly extreme right-wing hate group”

You may remember that back in May we published extracts from a story on the New British Union (NBU), a fascist group attempting to follow in the footsteps of Oswald Mosley. That story revealed that the party’s Policy Officer was Matthew Gill from Sudbury in Derbyshire. However, it seems that since we published the story, Gill has seen the light. He wrote an extensive email to us saying he had left the NBU saying he “made a bad decision and I regret it. I will have to live with that for the rest of my life”. He said he did “not want to do anyone any harm” and was working to make sure other people were not lured into fascist and racist politics as he was:

What must be remembered is that the NBU and some of its members are sinister and dangerous, and they have lied to lots of people…[T]he longer I was in the group the more I noticed it was taking a more sinister and dangerous direction and lunging fast towards the extreme far-right. I know that the party has now established links with Ultra White Nationalists across Europe and the world and is, in effect, a front for white supremacists, even some of its new imagery that I have been shown by the police is disturbing.

I finally left at the beginning of May after joining in the back end of March of this year, I am glad that I got out when I did because the party was and is preaching hate against people of race and was and is growing extremely anti-Semitic and anti-Islamic and in some instances aligning itself with groups such as the EDL, something which I find to be abhorrent. However true to their dishonest nature I had to fight to get my name removed from the site and had to resort to threatening them with my lawyers in order for this to be done. After that threat they quickly complied with my wishes. They are dishonest right down to the core and I would describe the NBU as an ugly extreme right-wing hate group and I deeply regret ever having anything to do with them…

I hope to be able to warn youngsters about groups like the NBU and the way they manipulate and use people and use them to further their twisted ideas beliefs.

…I made a mistake and I acknowledge that, but much of what was written in the Sun newspaper was false, and in many places totally made up. I know what I did on my part was stupid and naive but I am glad that I can now do something positive from a very bad decision on my part.

Whilst it is impossible to verify whether this is truly Gill or not, we hope that it is genuine and he has got out. Certainly the accounts of lies, threats and manipulation describe the way that most far right groups operate. Like the EDL and the BNP the NBU is led by a secretive leadership whose true agenda is continually hidden from the masses who would be appalled by it. We hope that Gill will be able to use his first hand knowledge of getting caught up in fascism to prevent others from making his mistake.

 


Chesterfield: Racist abuse ‘prevalent’ after Woolwich killing

[Repost from the Derbyshire Times]

Chesterfield’s Muslim community claims it has suffered an increase in racist abuse after the alleged murder of soldier Lee Rigby.

Two thugs who were convicted for being racially abusive on Cavendish Street in the town claimed they had been angered by the death of Fusilier Lee Rigby who was allegedly hacked to death in Woolwich, in May, by two converts to Islam.

Chesterfield magistrates’ court heard how Peter Levers, 33, of Circular Road, Staveley, was caught shouting, “Muslims, I’ll kill them all”, and in a separate case involving Mark Carr, 41, of Holme Road, Chesterfield, two Muslim women were subjected to racist abuse and swear-words during an incident where the comment ‘go back to your own country’ was heard.

A Chesterfield Muslim Welfare Association spokesman, who did not want to be named, said: “The issue seems to have been about Woolwich which has affected the Muslim community. Some groups have latched on to it and used it for their twisted purposes, and the Chesterfield Muslim community is suffering with abuse, but we try and get on with our lives.”

Former Navy serviceman Carr racially insulted two Muslim women in Chesterfield town centre and was ordered last Thursday, July 25, to pay £1,000 in compensation.

The court heard how the 41 year-old had been drinking before abusing the women on May 25.

Prosecuting solicitor Becky Mahon said one of the women had children in a double buggy. Carr pleaded guilty to using racially aggravated threatening behaviour and causing racially aggravated distress. He told police he felt angry because of the death of Lee Rigby.

Matt Evans, defending, said Carr is remorseful and does not hold extremist views. Carr was given a 12 month community order with 120 hours’ unpaid work and also ordered to pay £85 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.

During a previous case, the court heard on June 24 how Levers was caught by police shouting at a taxi driver and said, “Muslims, I’ll kill them all”, and was fined £120.

Levers had been out drinking for around 16 hours before the incident in the early hours of May 24. He pleaded guilty to racially aggravated harassment.

Defence solicitor Bob Bashforth told the court Lee Rigby was in Levers’ mind and in his drunken state “it came to the surface”.

He was ordered to pay a £20 victim surcharge and £80 costs. The MWA spokesman added: “Abuse was prevalent after Woolwich but it has started to die down now.”


Nottinghamshire remembers anti-fascist volunteers

Over the weekend, campaigners in Nottinghamshire came together to remember the volunteers from the county who joined the International Brigades. The re-dedication ceremony marked the return of the memorial to the volunteers, which was removed under the previous Tory leadership of the council.

The Spanish Civil War didn’t end well for the republic and the malignant influence of Stalinism on the Spanish Communist Party, and the International Brigades which were affiliated with it, is well known. Nonetheless, the bravery of those who volunteered to go to Spain is not in doubt and remains an inspiration to anti-fascists today. It is good to see that they will not be forgotten.

Banners at Nottinghamshire County Hall