Category Archives: Nottinghamshire

2018/09/15

Nottingham National Action Ne’er-do-well in and out of Nick

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

Another local far right eejit has been charged with terrorism activities for his involvement with neo-Nazi loons National Action.

On Wednesday 5 September, the BBC reported that he and a number of apparent comrades had been picked up in police “raids”:

Five people including a 17-year-old boy have been arrested on suspicion of being members of a banned far-right group.

Two men from Birmingham aged 22 and 28, a 23-year-old man and 22-year-old woman from Halifax and the teenager from Nottingham are being held by police in the West Midlands.

They are suspected of being members of National Action.

A number of properties are being searched following the arrests.

A separate report suggests the local lad was bailed while the others were remanded into custody.

On Monday it was reported that three of those arrested had been charged:

Garry Jack, 22, and Daniel Ward, 28, both from Birmingham, and a 17-year-old boy from Nottingham, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, were charged with being part of the group.

They are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

National Action was founded in 2013. It made a reputation for itself with overblown rhetoric online, infamously celebrating the murder of Jo Cox MP. The group also made friends by displaying a banner insisting “Hitler was right”. (An odd position for a group whose politics seems closest to the Strasserites who Hitler tried to liquidate in the Night of the Long Knives.)

In December 2016, the group became the first British far-right group to be banned since the 1940s when it was made illegal under the Terrorism Act.

Since then there have been a string of raids and arrests picking up assorted members of the groups. Several have ended up serving prison sentences.

Locally the group has not had much obvious presence. Although they did claim to have (very briefly) turned up at Nottingham and Nottingham Trent Universities in 2015.

Whether the anonymous 17 year-old was an active member of just a loser following them online remains to be seen.

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2016/11/23

Another racist moron in court for terrorism offences

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

Tomas Mair, the fascist terrorist who murdered Jo Cox MP in June this year has – to nobody’s surprise – been found guilty and jailed for life.

Mair is unusual amongst wannabe fascist terrorists in that he actually managed to kill somebody before he got caught. Nevertheless, as we’ve pointed out before, there have been no shortage of attempts over the last few years.

Just last week, Roger Smith, 46, of Summerwood Lane, Clifton, Nottingham went on trial at Nottingham Crown Court facing various charges under the Explosive Substances Act and Terrorism Act.

According to the Nottingham Post, Smith “had gunpowder, crossbows, knives and chemicals at his home because he wanted to defend the country from an attack from ISIS”.

We don’t know if Smith was a full-blown fascist, but like others on the far-right, Smith claims to believe that ISIS is an existential threat to our very society:

Prosecutor Michelle Heely told the jury: “He was asked about his views on Muslims and ISIS. He said that ISIS was a threat to the entire Western civilisation, and that if there was another Lee Rigby-style attack, he would be the sort of person who would help to stop it.

“He has it in his mind that he is going to defend the country from an attack by ISIS, and he has gathered his weapons, got his patriotic flags ready, and made explosives at home in order to do that.”

It’s hard to imagine many people would have slept better had we known Smith was looking out for us. Most likely, many people would have feared – with good reason – that he intended to use his new toys not for defence, but for attack.

Smith also described Islam as a “religion of terror”, a fairly standard Islamophobic canard.

Predictably the Post doesn’t use the words fascist, terrorist or even racist anywhere in it’s coverage, instead describing him as a “self-proclaimed survivalist”.

The BBC meanwhile, went with the headline “Accused ‘not an Islamophobic madman’,” because who hasn’t stockpiled weapons for the coming apocalypse?

Elsewhere in the media, the story has been largely ignored.

Would a brown-skinned person in the same situation be treated with the same kid gloves? Clearly not. Despite the conviction of Thomas Mair it’s clear that the clear and present threat of fascist terrorism continues to be of no interest to the mainstream media.

Smith – of course – denies the charges.

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2016/07/22

EDL plan day at the seaside in Nottingham

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

The EDL’s “Nottingham Division” has announced a demonstration in Nottingham on Saturday August 6th.

This hasn’t exactly gone down well with city council leader Jon Collins who has called on the police to ban the march.

The city’s Market Square is currently the site of a beach, complete with sand, water and fairground rides. A horde of drunken fascists doesn’t exactly fit with the intended ambiance.

Collins says:

“We’re extremely concerned about the prospect of an event of this kind taking place in the heart of the city centre during the school holidays.

“That can’t be right when families are enjoying the beach, the water feature and everything else Nottingham has to offer during the summer holidays.”

Banning the march is unlikely to be very effective. Under the Public Order Act, it’s only possible to ban marches, not static demos. Whatever the police decide, the EDL will likely turn up anyway.

That said, they aren’t likely to get many people out. The EDL is a drink-addled shadow of the organisation that brought several hundred members to Nottingham in 2009.

On Saturday they held a national demonstration in London. It wasn’t a great success, as EDL News explain: “Only 50 turned up and those that did were staggering around drunk and high on drugs.” The latest EDL split (ironically using the moniker United People of Britain) followed days later.

Recent protests in Nottingham by the Notts Casuals Infidels have hardly been major victories for the far-right and suggest the the inevitable handful of drunken fascists are unlikely to be get a warm welcome.

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2016/07/01

Britain First protest against non-existent migrant camp

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

Britain First apparently think they are some kind of low-rent Sheriff of Nottingham and have travelled to Sherwood Forest to search for an alleged “migrant camp”. Except there’s no migrants. And there never were.

In a video posted online, the group’s deputy leader Jayda Fransen (who has a fascinating family tree) says:

“You may have seen reports in the media that migrants have set up illegal camps and within these camps they’ve been causing a huge amount of destruction and disturbance.

“There’s litter everywhere, they’ve been cutting, hacking at trees, cutting bushes down.

“They’ve got knives and locals have been threatened by these migrants occupying these illegal camps.

“It really is an issue around here.”

Sounds scary right? Except she’s talking utter bollocks.

There is an abandoned camp in the forest. But it has bugger all to do with migrants.

The claims about a “migrant camp” in the forest originated on Facebook and were reported in local rag the Mansfield Chad. As a neat fit with their anti-immigrant agenda it was uncritically repeated by the Daily Express and probably elsewhere.

It quickly turned out that the camp had in fact been built by local teenagers in 2010. Brad Dury told the Chad:

“The truth is me and a few friends just decided to build it in 2010 when we were bored in the summer. We wanted somewhere to camp and have a party, as you do.

“We never chopped down any of the trees we used ones that had already been knocked down and pieced it all together. It took about five of us to put the arched trunk up there!”

Assorted detailed claims about the supposed inhabitants of the camp were made to the Chad by a local man who refused to give his real name. Whether he made them up or actually believed his own bullshit isn’t clear. He certainly wasn’t pleased to get called up on it. Chad reporter Nick Charity told the Huffington Post:

“The source also claimed a very elaborate treehouse was built by migrants. When we confronted him with the knowledge it was actually built by local teens in the summer of 2010, he argued with this presuming they were lying and must ‘be with some immigration protection outfit’. Eventually he submitted but asked if our contact was foreign.”

Fascists have never troubled themselves greatly about facts. It probably shouldn’t be a great surprise that despite an overwhelming body of evidence that this isn’t an issue they decided to try and build a campaign around it.

This latest instance of stupidity by the party comes only a week after they released a video of themselves harassing a homeless couple in Mansfield.

All of this is amusing in it’s own way. Everybody enjoys a chance to watch fascists making tits of themselves. But it should also stand as a warning to anti-fascists. They clearly feel confident to openly throw their weight around in Nottinghamshire and elsewhere. If they ever get their shit together enough to identify a real target they could prove to be a genuine threat.

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2016/06/24

Charity boxing match cancelled because of Casual Infidels comments

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

A charity boxing match has been canceled following the comments made by one of the Notts Casual Infidels about the murder of Jo Cox MP.

Jamie Ray Upton AKA Daniel Hall from Mansfield, is the group’s spokesman and runs their Facebook page.

In the aftermath of Cox’s murder while others were expressing shock and disgust, Upton – presumably worse for wear after England’s victory over Wales in the Euros – responded by posting:

“We knew it was only a matter of time before we take it to the next level. We have been mugged off for Far to (sic) long.”

By the next day Upton was busily backtracking, claiming he’d been misunderstood, but the damage had already been done. His comments made the group instant national hate figures – even in the blackshirt-supporting Daily Mail. (The Nottingham Casuals rugby club had to put out a statement distancing themselves from their fascist namesakes.)

Jamie Ray Upton

Jamie Ray Upton AKA Daniel Hall from Mansfield

Upton was set to fight in the Ultra White Collar Boxing event at The Village Hotel in Chilwell on Sunday. The event was intended to raise funds for Cancer Research UK, but has been cancelled by the organisers.

A spokesman for Cancer Research UK said:

“Everyone at Cancer Research UK was absolutely shocked and saddened to hear the news of Labour MP Jo Cox. Our thoughts are with her colleagues, friends and family.

“It has been brought to our attention that a member of a group condoning this tragic incident was due to take part in a fundraising event in aid of Cancer Research UK.

“We have alerted the event organisers and the decision has been made not to allow his participation to ensure that the event remains a safe and positive environment.”

The decision to cancel the fight may also have been influenced by a planned anti-fascist demonstration outside the event.

The other fights at the event are still going ahead and the organisers are better off without Upton anyway. His record when it comes to fund-raising isn’t great. While a member of the EDL he was  accused of “ripping off” the organisation by pocketing  funds from the sales of EDL merchandise, as well as profiteering on travel to and from demonstrations. He was also accused of  taking EDL money donated to his “North Notts” division, and investing it in a new charitable front called “stand together”.

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2016/06/21

Who are the Casual Infidels?

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

It’s been an exciting week for the Notts Casual Infidels. Their uncensored Facebook “banter” delighting in the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox by a ‘lone wolf’ fascist made them instant national hate figures – even in the blackshirt-supporting Daily Mail.  No doubt there will be many angry people demanding to know who is behind their online hate campaign.

First, their spokesman who runs their Facebook page, Jamie Ray Upton AKA Daniel Hall from Mansfield. Jamie was accused of pocketing the cash he made from sales of EDL merchandise when he was a member as well as using it to fund his own projects, and was subsequently booted out of the organisation. Keen to keep on the gravy train he started his own project, the Casual Infidels. Before becoming infamous for inciting the murder of Labour MPs, he was last seen collecting donations in a Cancer Research bucket in Market Square on his way to the Casual Infidels disaster of a demo. Draw your own conclusions as to where the money was really going. The latest news is that Upton’s Facebook post is under investigation by the police so he may we may not see him again for a while.

DanielHall-Mansfield

Jamie Ray Upton AKA Daniel Hall

No chancer like Upton can operate without a sidekick, preferably one who can provide some muscle (or, at least, some bulk) without asking difficult questions. The Notts Casual Infidels lieutenant is Craig Burridge, a racist Worksop Town fan who (sometimes) brings a small mob of others to the demos.

Craig Burridge

Craig Burridge

Jimmi Rae - Worksop

Jimmi Rae – Worksop

Andrew Shaw - Worksop

Andrew Shaw – Worksop

At NCI’s latest flop demo, Upton brought some lads along from Mansfield with him too. Unfortunately, the only ones he could find were fresh out of their first year of GCSEs. But then, he clearly has no qualms about grooming them for a role in his far right organisation.

Outside of these two towns, there is no solid support for the Casual Infidels. A few younger ex-EDL from Nottingham seemed interested, notably Jack Stevens and Adam Repton, but there are tensions between fascists from out of town and the city that will only have been exacerbated by the recent loose cannon comments on Facebook.

Jack Stevens - Nottingham EDL

Jack Stevens – Nottingham EDL

Paul Jeffery – Nottingham

Ian Kellett (Nottingham) and Wayne Grisenthwaite (Manchester) - both were at recent NCI demo

Ian Kellett (Nottingham) and Wayne Grisenthwaite (Fleetwood, Lancashire) – both were at recent NCI demo

Steven Morgan - Nottingham

Steven Morgan – Nottingham

Of course, this small handful of Notts ex-EDLers are not enough to hold even the tiniest demo in Nottingham, given the overwhelming opposition. They rely on the EDL tactic of bussing people in from all over the country to get their numbers up to more than a car-load. For their recent demo there was a sizeable contingent from the North-West (Gaz Jones – Manchester, Spencer Shirley and Melissa Lewins – Colne, Wayne Grisenthwaite – Fleetwood) as well as Halifax (Conrad Ayscough – accused of assaulting a muslim woman in the street on his visit to Nottingham), London (Lucas Phelan) and Littlehampton (Pete Gillett).

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Lucas Phelan

 

Spencer Shirley (Colne), Lucas Phelan (London), Pete Gillett (Sussex)

Spencer Shirley (Colne), Lucas Phelan (London), Pete Gillett (Littlehampton)

 

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Conrad Ayscough

Finally here’s a few more faces from that demo:

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2016/06/14

Antifa 3 Casual Infidels 0

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

It was their third attempt to “take back” the streets of Nottingham, and Notts Casual Infidels had threatened to “smash the reds”. On their first demo in October last year, the Market Square was taken by antifascists and refugees before they could leave the pub. They came back with 15 pitiful racists to be humiliated again later in the year but this time they had been building for months to make Saturday their big one. It was not to be.

SpotTheFash

Spot the fash: Where are ya?

Despite calling favours from mates from all round the country (fascists travelled from Halifax, London and Sussex), less than 20 bothered to turn up. Despite the presence of hundreds of police to facilitate their march they were forced to hold their rally in an alley, about 50 yards from their pub, penned in at both ends by antifa and other pissed-off members of the local population. They waved a UKIP placard, and were bundled onto a bus by police anxious to get them to the station and out of town before any of them was seriously injured. It was all over by 3.

Casuals Infidels sounding very much like they're about to surrender

Casuals Infidels sounding very much like they’re about to surrender

It wasn’t long before recrimations were flying. Nottingham EDL’s Jack Stevens and Adam Repton were spotted by antifascists staggering out of an off-licence, moaning about how it was all organised by Nazis from out of town.  Incidentally, Repton, who didn’t go to the demo, was also seen having a long and involved chat with a suspected undercover cop.  I hope he knew what he was doing!

Then Chesterfield EDL’s John Bryan slagged off the demo’s “star attraction”, Pete Gillett, a racist bedroom ranter who came all the way from West Sussex. Bryan claimed Gillett was only in it for the money (no change for the far right there then!) and Gillett swore he wouldn’t do any more demos because “I do not want to rub shoulders with cunts like them“. Oh dear.  if you’re short of cash, perhaps you’ll have to take up the drug dealing again Pete – or try working as a Matt Lucas impersonator?

PeteGillettNotPlaying

BackStabbing

Speaking of scamming, what were the – doubtless unlicensed – Casual Infidels doing collecting donations in a Cancer Research bucket all day? Let’s just say it wouldn’t be the first time that ‘patriots’ have been involved in bogus collections of money.

Mansfield infidel Jamie Upton (‘Daniel Hall’) shows some schoolkids how to scam the public when you run out of beer money

Meanwhile, antifascists had another morale-boosting day. The fascists were out-manouvered and out-numbered for the third time in a row. Their march was stopped, and no one heard their poisonous message or even saw them. Antifascists had the run of the streets and the opportunity to engage with the public whilst the fascists hid behind rows of police. It was another public demonstration that militant antifascism works and keeps Nazi scum off the streets.

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2015/12/13

Casuals flop in Nottingham

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

After their underwhelming protest in Nottingham in October, the Notts Casual Infidels had another go on December 5th, under  the guise of ‘Nottingham Against Mass Immigration’.  This time the ex-EDL rump organised with more notice and agreed a march route with the police – as so often, “we go where we want” translates as “we go where the police tell us“.  They were clearly hoping to attract more than the 20-odd they attracted on their first foray.  It didn’t go so well for them….

They met up at the Waterfront pub on the side of the canal near the railway station, for the usual pre-demo dutch courage. 

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As the area around the pub quickly became occupied by a sizeable crowd of antifascists, the police spent some time working out how they would get the Casual Infidels on to the march route.  A surprisingly small group of hapless fascists soon lined up behind heavy police numbers, and off they went.

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The Casual Infidels numbered around 15 – even less than their previous effort.  A large anti-fascist crowd quickly blocked the street in front of the fascists, and attempted to prevent the fascist march from progressing.  However, a huge and concerted police effort saw the march pushed through, and on to the busy main road near the pub.  After much push-and-pull with antifascists, and kettling some of them in a side-street, the police managed to escort the tiny Casual Infidel march towards the town centre, harassed and harangued by antifascists all the way.

The end point of the march brought home how lame the Casual Infidels day out in Nottingham was; about 10 of them (some having slunk off already!) corralled behind fencing and a large number of police in a side street, and essentially invisible to the public; meanwhile a much larger number of antifascists leafletted the main shopping street and taunted the minature fascist mobilization.

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All in all, a good result for the antifascists, and a reverse for the Notts Casual Infidels – time to give it up lads….

 

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2015/11/27

Anti-immigration protest in Nottingham

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

On the evening of October the 19th, a group calling itself Notts Casual Infidels organised a protest in Nottingham against “Uncontrolled Immigration” (the fact that immigration is ‘uncontrolled’ in the UK will come as a surprise to migrants imprisoned in detention centres, but let’s leave that aside for now).  A group of about 20 fascists spent a while drinking themselves brave in a Wetherspoons pub on the City’s Market Square, before venturing out to wave a large St.George’s Flag and a home-made banner.

They stood on the edge of the square with their flag for a while, opposed by a much larger anti-fascist group, mobilized at short notice.  When the anti-fascists, numbering about 100, moved towards the pub, the police formed lines to keep the two groups separate.

A familiar face on the demo was Jimmy Saville fan Bob Brindley, aka “Nottingham BNP”.  He stood at the edge of the NCI contingent, waving his grubby Union Jack.  He quickly scuttled off when the antifascist demo moved closer.

 

 

It seems the NCI are linked to the remains of Nottinghamshre EDL – note the rotund guy on the left in this photo from the evening…

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Craig Burridge

He’s Craig Burridge, from Worksop EDL.  Here he is again at the anti-mosque march in Lincoln in July…..

In the gutter, gazing at the bars…

 

Also from Worksop EDL was Andrew Shaw….

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Andrew Shaw

 

Here’s an ex-Nottingham EDL activist – melancholic chauvinist Adam Repton (in the cap):

The NCI spokesperson on the evening was Jamie Upton…

‘Honest Jamie’

Upton also used to be a prominent local EDL activist, but fell foul of the EDL hierarchy in January, accused of stealing funds.  So, it looks like the NCI is another of the many little splinter groups that have emerged from the remains of the EDL (in this case, perhaps with suspiciously full pockets….).  It could be said that they are, ironically, themselves refugees from the wreck of the EDL.

 

Some more photos of the NCI on the evening…

 

After a while, the NCI dispersed, and after being shepherded around the market square by the police, went back into the pub, to enjoy the traditional far-right pastime of drinking beer under the watchful eye of the constabulary.

The antifascist counter-protest subsequently dispersed, with one arrest as someone tried to break through police lines.   Some time later, the NCI finally emerged from the warm shelter of the pub and took a photo of themselves on the empty steps of the Council House.  They had an abandoned UAF placard with them as a ‘trophy’….recovered from a bin on the market square!

We go where we want (as long as all the antifascists have gone home)

It’s fair to say that the NCI’s first demo was hardly a success – they were heavily outnumbered, and spent most of the evening being slowly pushed back into the pub by police.  The highlight of their evening’s political activity seems to be a sign found in a bin – whatever floats your boat, lads….

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2014/12/10

Britain First pitch up in Nottingham

By East Midlands Anti-Fascists

This blog has been quiet for a few months, partly because we’ve been busy with other projects, and partly because there has been very little to report from the far-right in our region.  However, this happy absence of muppets has ended with a day-trip by Britain First to Nottingham last Saturday.

 

Britain First - reclaiming the flat cap for fascism

Britain First in action earlier in the year – reclaiming the flat cap for fascism

 

We hear that about 15-20 of the BNP offshoot were in the city leafletting as part of their”national action”.  Easy to spot in their green knock-off leisurewear, their main focus seemed to be attempting to intimidate an islamic info street stall.  The wannabe “street defence organisation” were apparently taken aback at the refusal of the young muslims to wilt before their verbal onslaught, and a number of passersby also showed their disdain for Britain First and their clumsy attempt at provocation.  After a bit of standing around and scowling, the fascists dispersed.

Having been countered by effective opposition when they declared a “national tour” earlier in the year, and more recently in Rochester, Britain First have obviously decided that turning up unannounced gives them a chance to mobilise with no organised opposition.  It’s a shame that they were able to leaflet unchallenged for a while in Nottingham, but good to hear that they were not well received on the streets.  Despite their clownish incompetence, Britain First are attempting to establish themselves as a provocative fascist street presence, and anti-fascists need to keep an eye out for them and counter them wherever they may crawl into the light.

 

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