EDL Anti-Islam March Results In 13 Arrests

BethPH
By BethPH Last edited 130 months ago
EDL Anti-Islam March Results In 13 Arrests

Never ones to avoid a potential ruck, the English Defence League (EDL) marched on Downing Street yesterday in an anti-Muslim protest following last week's brutal attack on a soldier in Woolwich.

The march was just a part of the senseless and opportunistic anti-Islam backlash in the wake of the fatal attack on Lee Rigby by two men armed with meat cleavers outside Woolwich barracks last week. The far-right group have previously demonstrated a distinct lack of coherence over their protests and yesterday's seemed to be no exception, with one attendee appearing to be misinformed over the law saying, "It seems there is one law today for Muslims and one for everyone else".

We particularly like this quote from the Guardian:

More than 1,000 supporters – including football hooligans, veteran fascists and others – assembled under tight police security at the entrance to Downing Street, where they listened to their leaders blame Islam for the killing in Woolwich last week.

An EDL member was also pictured allegedly performing a Nazi salute near the Cenotaph. Twitter claims that EDL leadership later denied the man was representative of the group didn't fail to note the irony.

Several anti-fascist groups, including Unite Against Fascism (UAF) turned out to counter the EDL protest. The situation was largely peaceful until a spate of bottle-throwing between the groups resulted in 13 arrests. Unite Against Fascism's Weyman Bennett said:

"The EDL want to use the tragic death of Lee Rigby to tear apart our society. We've seen it before and we have to stand against it."

Further band-wagon jumping protest marches by the EDL and the BNP are planned, while the group's attempt to use armed forces charity Help for Heroes to rally support was stymied after their donations were blocked.

Photo by James Lemons in the Londonist Flickr pool.

Last Updated 28 May 2013