Far-Right Group Targets East London In 'Christian Patrols'

BethPH
By BethPH Last edited 110 months ago
Far-Right Group Targets East London In 'Christian Patrols'

Photo by Steve in the Londonist Flickr pool

Far-right party Britain First has restarted 'Christian patrols' in east London, calling the area 'Muslim-occupied'.

The Independent report says the group's Facebook page showed members 'driving through east London in an ex-army issue Land Rover' (seriously, could they be any more of a cliché?) claiming they were 'making our streets safe for our people'.

Britain First's latest attempt to patrol the streets is believed to be in response to the terror attacks in Paris, which left 17 people dead. Some London mosques have since received hate mail and death threats. It also follows Steven Emerson's Fox News faux pas in which he declared Birmingham a no-go zone and claimed Muslim 'police' beat Londoners for not wearing religious clothing.

Anti-fascist group Hope Not Hate recently published a report saying support for far-right groups is waning. Matthew Collins, who works with the campaign group, told the Independent that Britain First's patrols were a 'last ditch attempt to attract numbers'.

The party has been repeatedly criticised for using misleading social media campaigns to gain likes and shares for their page. The mother of Fusilier Lee Rigby, murdered in the Woolwich terror attack, condemned them for using her son's death to promote itself. Last November, Britain First were also accused of hijacking Remembrance Day  and animal cruelty campaigns. Their Facebook page was taken down in June 2014 following complaints of hate speech, but was reinstated.

This blog post from anotherangryvoice is a handy guide to why people shouldn't share Britain First posts on Facebook.

Last Updated 20 January 2015