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 fascuist, 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 would 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.

So the EDL marched in Nottingham, last month, or was it the far right extremist Casual Infidels? So many of the same faces popped up that it was hard to tell the difference, but then the fascists have always been an opportunist lot. EDL, BNP, National Front, EVF, Casuals United, Infidels – all different names for the same bunch of losers, who shift alliances according to where they can get the most cash, gullible followers or both.

While they were enjoying their taxpayer funded street drinking – was it the cops or the local council who generously provided their portaloos? – we took the opportunity to document the diehard few who still cling to the EDL banner.

EDL marching in Nottingham featuring Ian Kellett (sunglasses and Union Jack scarf), Craig Burridge (white vest, cap, lanyard), Jack Stevens (black coat, hood up) and Daniel Hall (red shirt, black cap)

All of the main organisers and participants from the previous Casual Infidels outings were there, including Daniel Hall, Jack Stevens (who got convicted of criminal damage for throwing a flare at the demo just this week), Craig Burridge, Andrew Shaw, Jimmi Rae, Adam Repton, and Ian Kellett. In fact, Worksop’s Craig Burridge – a key Casual Infidels organiser – was one of the EDL’s security crew. There were a lot of other faces from other parts of the country who turned up to the last Casual Infidels demo as well: Luke Hathaway (Walsall), Spencer Shirley (Colne), Conrad Ayscough (Halifax) and Gaz Jones (Manchester).

Craig Burridge, Worksop EDL and Notts Casual Infidels

Far left: Daniel Hall (Mansfield, Notts Casual Infidels) chatting with Luke Hathaway (Walsall, United Patriots)

Andrew Shaw (Centre, blue hoodie): Worksop EDL and Notts Casual Infidels

Right: Jimmi Rae, Worksop, Notts Casual Infidels

Spencer Shirley, Colne EDL

Centre, rolling cigarette: Conrad Ayscough, Halifax EDL

Left: Gaz Jones, Manchester EDL

In addition to the Casual Infidels, the few members of Leicester EDL who have stuck it out turned up including Craig Elliott and Simon Smith.

Simon Smith, Leicester EDL

Another familiar face from the Notts Casual Infidels demo was this chap (see picture below) who turned up with his camera to take a few pics for Redwatch. He was also trying to pass himself off as a bystander at the Notts Casual Infidels demo in July.

Confused steroid man

The EDL claim that they had 160 people at their march in Nottingham on Saturday but photos of the rally only show around 100. They have haemhorrhaged support since their last march in the city in 2009. This is largely because most supporters have realised that the organisation is going nowhere and that piss ups and marches don’t achieve anything except hostility from the locals.

EDL supporters took to EDL pages to moan about the poor turnout and the “non organised whole thing”. Nottingham EDL agreed – “the numbers have dwindled down” they said admitting that “whatever else happens on the day is out of our hands”. They have lost control of their only tactic.

Another major turnoff for potential EDL supporters has been the constant infighting and jockeying for power (and cash) by all of the self-appointed leaders. The EDL “star speaker”, Pete Gillett, was the target of playground-style attacks from Daniel Hall AKA Jamie Upton, the all-talk-no-action leader of the Casual Infidels. Which is strange, seeing as he invited him to speak at the Casual Infidels demo in Nottingham only a month ago. Apparently Gillett is a “Kray-rent boy”, a “melt” and a “boring cunt”. This followed a major tiff between Gillett and other far right nobodies in the run up to the demo.

You might remember that after the NCI demo Gillett was accused of only being in it for the money and responded saying “I’m not doing demo’s [sic] I do not want to rub shoulders with cunts like them”. However, ever the attention-seeking self-publicist, Gillett changed his mind to get back on the grubby EDL podium.

After three blocked marches in a row for local fascists, it was clear that Notts police were going to push this one through by any means necessary and they drafted in coppers from over 20 forces to make sure the EDL got their march. Heavily outnumbered by over 400 antifascists the far right would never have had their way without their police minders.

As if the march wasn’t disappointing enough for the fash, Nottingham EDL organiser, Jack Stevens, (or should that be Jack Stevens, 26, of Oxford Street, Long Eaton) was arrested for throwing a flare and has been charged with criminal damage. He will appear in Nottingham Mags at the start of next month.

Craig Elliott AKA Craig Leicester, Leicester EDL organiser, threatened that the EDL would be back without police liaison next time. We’re not holding our breath.

With less than a week to go before the EDL’s demo in Nottingham it’s becoming clear just how half-cocked the whole thing is. The demo is being organised by Jack Stevens, last spotted stumbling out of the off-license after the Notts Casual Infidels demo last month providing plenty of entertainment for the antifascists. The Twat in the Hat, as we affectionately know him, is rarely sober as you can tell from his long Facebook rants, casual racism and loyalty to the EDL. If the EDL is relying on this muppet to run their national demos they’re in trouble. Which of course they are.

Helping him along is Mansfield’s Daniel Hall, best known for inciting the murder of Labour MPs on his Notts Casual Infidels page. Clearly the EDL have forgiven him for stealing their money, splitting away to form his own gang and the pending legal action. Or they’re just desperate. You decide. We wonder whether he’ll bring his bogus “charity” collecting bucket again this time?

According to Jack, the EDL are coming to Nottingham because of an obscure Islamist sect that no one had heard of until the EDL started giving them publicity. But that’s the way with the EDL and their fellow travellers – they know they need to prop up the most extreme, attention-seeking elements within the Islamist community to boost their own support.

The EDL do nothing to prevent Islamic extremism – on the contrary, they actually help out these Islamist groups by trying to reduce the world into a street fight between white nationalists and Muslims – Isis would love it!   (It’s also worth noting that the most effective fighters against Isis in Syria and Iraq have been the Kurdish YPG, who are predominantly muslim and avowedly anti-fascist…..the idiotic anti-Isis pub rhetoric of the EDL becomes even more laughable….)

Oppose the fascists in Nottingham on Saturday 6th. UAF are meeting at the Brian Clough statue at 12pm and keep an eye on the Midlands Antifascists page for details of their own mobilisation. These pictures from the last Nottingham demo will give you an idea of who to look out for.

Since the results of the EU Referendum were announced on Friday, there has been a surge in racist incidents across the country.

In Nottinghamshire the police had received 14 reports of hate crime between Friday and Monday. In Mansfield they say that tensions are being “closely monitored”. (Figures for elsewhere in the region are harder to come by.)

There has always been a level of racially motivated incidents in the UK, widely assumed to be under-reported. However what is happening now seems to both quantitatively and qualitatively different (i.e. there’s more of it and it’s worse). Victims report abuse of a type they haven’t experienced in decades.

This all comes after a deeply divisive campaign. While campaigners briefly tried focussing on the economic arguments (“your boss says vote X”), the “debate” quickly switched to immigration. There were an array of sensationalist claims about Turkey joining the EU and exploitation of the refugee crisis. This was clearly a key factor mobilising the leave vote.

This is not too suggest that all 17 million people who voted to leave are racist. They clearly are not. However, a small, racist minority have interpreted the vote as meaning that a majority of people agree with them. We must now prove them wrong.

There is already a movement to challenge this racist surge. On Tuesday evening hundreds of people gathered in Nottingham’s Market Square to call for unity.

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.

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

Jimmi Rae – 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

Paul Jeffery – Nottingham

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

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).

Lucas Phelan

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

Conrad Ayscough

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

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.

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

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?

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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

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…

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….

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….

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 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.