Timothy Martin Burton, Liberty GB Activist & Office Holder – Convicted of Religiously Aggravated Harassment

For over 4 years, Timothy Martin Burton, harassed and intimidated the founder of Tell MAMA whilst using extremist far right networks to post up material targeting the faith of the founder. Details of the harassment that our founder suffered can be found HERE.

Timothy Martin Burton started off his ‘journey’ into far right extremism through the targeting of the then Director of Tell MAMA, Fiyaz Mughal, after he read an article in 2013 where Mughal was quoted within it. What transpired was a 4 year systematic campaign of harassment that led to Burton becoming a focal point for anti-Muslim haters and far right extremists from Australia through to the United States. Supporters of this individual also ended up being Pamela Geller, who was banned by the Home Secretary in 2013 from entering the United Kingdom. Her entry into the UK was regarded as “not being conducive to the public good.”

Burton went onto develop friendships with other far right conspiracy minded individuals and aided in supporting numerous blogs, statements and race hate material against Mughal, including ones that are currently being investigated. His targeting of Mughal was conducted through the Internet and was done underneath the Twitter pseudonym of ‘Catstrangler101’. The initial targeting in 2013 through this anonymous pseudonym meant that identification became a problem leading to the involvement of an external investigation company which identified the Twitter user as one Timothy Martin Burton from the West Midlands.

The interview notes after the arrest of Burton show a man who was exhibiting far right nationalist views and the interviewing notes said:

“He (Burton) stated that he has had long standing views about, as he terms it, the encroachment of Islam on the indigenous British population and how their needs are pursued to the detriment of society. Burton accepted in hindsight that he should not have sent the tweets and he would apologise to the victim.”

That apology was not to come.

In 2014, Burton was acquitted of material that was sent to the founder of Tell MAMA which involved calling him a ‘Muslim scumbag” and of promoting ‘Taqiyya’ – a concept used by far right extremists to suggest that Muslims lie to take over the State and to promote Sharia and the spread of Islam. Framed as the ‘Taqiyya’ trial by far right extremists and activists of the divisive anti-Muslim group, Liberty GB, Burton became emboldened and far right blogs consistently pumped out this term and tagged on the concept to Mr Mughal, thereby further adding insult against his faith identity. These aggressive, anti-Muslim and hateful messages continued for years through a range of blogs and sites in the UK and internationally.

Throughout Burton’s activities and the targeting of Mughal, there was ample evidence of a Muslim hater who was becoming more emboldened and extreme in his views. His initial anonymous tweets to Mughal in 2013 copied in the far right English Defence League and he also had the following text in his tweets:

“Hey Kuffar? Fed up of Islam? Don’t like your Muslim neighbours? Mosque in your area causing a problem? Call 1-800-DRONE-STRIKE – now.”

A video clip on his Twitter account showed a Qur’an burning ceremony with the following text attached to it – “I love the sound of Muzzies heads exploding in the morning.”

Burton then went onto try and build a career for himself through his affiliations with the anti-Muslim Liberty GB group that we have highlighted before. He even decided to run as the political candidate for Liberty GB in the 2016 General Elections for the Birmingham Ladywood seat, gaining only 200 votes. His campaign was based on how he had ‘stood up’ against Islam and how he had ‘won’ against Mr Mughal, a divisive position that no doubt, went down badly in the eyes of local voters, meaning that Liberty GB lost their deposit. Burton even titled himself the ‘Press Officer’ for Liberty GB where he turned up on the far right ‘Pegida’ radio station where he moaned about Muslims and Islam.

Burton however, who now felt that he had a purpose to what was an insignificant life in the public domain, relished his new found notoriety, though it was only a matter of time before he crossed a criminal threshold. This was to happen in 2017.

Liberty GB and the Link to Activities After the Murder of Jo Cox

Paul Weston – ‘Founder’ and ‘Chairman’ of Liberty GB

We have previously highlighted other key officers within Liberty GB, namely Paul Weston, who notoriously said after the murder of Lee Rigby in 2013 that ‘we are losing a racial war, we are losing a cultural war‘. He claimed that you would find ‘no white people in Tower Hamlets’ due to rising demographics of non-whites and Muslims.

In response to accusations of racism, Weston responded “If I want to avoid a civil war happening in my country, I am prepared to accept being called a racist“.

Weston quit Ukip after Lord Pearson stood down as leader. For him, the party would take a soft line towards Islam under Nigel Farage. He wrote in 2012 that “I think Islam will cause even more death and destruction in Europe over the 21st century than Nazism and Communism caused over the 20th century”.

Jack Buckby – ‘Press Officer’

Buckby’s toxic comments have previously been highlighted by us within Tell MAMA. Recently, Buckby told NUS campaigner Barbara Ntulmy “I hope you don’t get raped” in reference to Syrian refugees on Channel 4 news. However, his actions before and after the murder of campaigner and Member of Parliament, Jo Cox, have been the most revolting of statements from him.

Buckby stood in the Batley and Spen by-election after the murder of Jo Cox and months before the by-election tweeted out the following:

“Jo Cox was complicit in the rape of young girls throughout Yorkshire and beyond.”

In his own words: “nationalism is the cause we need to fight. The issue we’ve got is that young people do not associate with the word. So, as long as we keep the ideology it doesn’t really matter what word we use. Obviously, it’s all about spin.” Adding, that the language of ‘culturalism,’ which is ‘already important’ to nationalism, would help get young people involved with groups like the BNP.

When a student at the University of Liverpool, Mr Buckby tweeted a poster warning against sex with ‘intravenous drug abusers’, ‘bisexuals’ and ‘blacks’.

A now-deleted tweet from 2014 read: “Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. Please take time to remember those who were killed at the hand of fascism & hope Islam can’t do the same.”

In recent years, his incendiary rhetoric on Islam and Muslims has not changed. Further, he has made highly offensive and extreme comments about the LGBT and Jewish communities as well, yet Channel 4 gave him a platform to air such views without informing its audience effectively about his extremist ideology.

Burton Starts Up His Activities Again in 2016

True to form, Burton was back on the scene and started his harassment of the Founder of Tell MAMA in early 2016. He harassed Mr Mughal when Tell MAMA posted a job vacancy for a Caseworker for the national hate crime project. In a blog he caricatured the face of Mughal, copied in Liberty GB activists and other far right networks and suggested a toast to Mr Mughal with a ‘bacon sandwich’. He gloated in ‘winning’ his case and all the while e-mailing from an account entitled, ‘Freedom Lovin’ Infidel’ – a reference to so-called self-styled ‘Counter-Jihadists’ who target Muslims by enlarge. He repeated the term ‘Taqiyya’ on many occasions and also linked in the notorious ‘Gates of Vienna’ blog into his correspondence. He was now a fully fledged anti-Muslim far right activist.

In one e-mail, Burton stated the following:

“I forgot to thank you for passing my communication onto the Middle East transgender organisation. I thinks (sic) that it’s wonderful that you have such an enlightened group that supports persecuted minorities in this way.

It’s such a welcome change from the backward, misogynistic seventh century attitudes that we have come to expect from the followers of your ideology.”

Bizarrely, as a key witness Burton’s defence called one Sami Aldeeb to talk about the concept of ‘Taqiyya’. Aldeeb’s tweets include material showing the Qur’an with statements saying,

“This is a declaration of war against you, your family, your friends, your values, and everything that is precious to you.” At the previous trial, Burton’s defence relied on a member of Geert Wilder’s political party.

Conviction

On the 30th of March 2017, after a 4 year campaign, Timothy Martin Burton was found guilty of the religiously aggravated harassment of Fiyaz Mughal. A 4 year campaign that saw him being found not guilty, use language that few understood the impacts of, engage with far right extremism and ultimately lead him into the docks at Southwark Crown Court.

It was the persistence and tenacity of the founder of Tell MAMA, with the hard work of the Crown Prosecution Service and the MET, which led to the conviction of this far right extremist. The statement from Fiyaz Mughal, can be found below:

“I am relieved that the jury have seen this for the criminal conduct it is. For the last four years I have been subjected to a long running hate campaign at the hands of Mr Burton. I have received unacceptable abuse which has no place in modern day Britain. The outcome of the trial sends a very clear message – racial and religious abuse is completely unacceptable and is punishable by law. It also sends a message to far right activists who break the law in targeting people through religiously aggravated harassment. You will not succeed and you will be held accountable for your actions within the laws of our land.

There is also a message for Islamist extremists and those who perpetuate an Islamist narrative of the State being against Muslims or Muslim rights not being protected. This result corrodes your toxic narrative that holds back some Muslims from reporting in and accessing justice and your manipulation of our fellow British Muslim citizens against the State and its structures, is challenged by this ruling. The legal system works for all.

For others suffering from similar abuse, my message is very clear: report any racial and religious abuse you receive to third party hate crime agencies like Tell MAMA and to the police because this behaviour breaks the law. This judgment also sends a very clear message to social media companies, which have been extremely slow to monitor and curb this type of activity, that they have a responsibility to act to ensure their platforms are not used to break the law.”

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Categories: Far Right groups, hate crime, Jack Buckby, News, Paul Weston, Taqqiya

Armed man arrested on way to L.A. gay pride parade pleads not guilty

An Indiana man arrested on his way to a Los Angeles-area gay pride parade last year after police found three assault rifles and potentially explosive chemicals in his car has pleaded not guilty to weapons charges.

James Wesley Howell was arrested only hours after a gunman killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Florida, but police said they found no connection between Howell and the Orlando mass shooting.

He entered his plea on Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court to unlawful possession of an assault weapon, importing large firearms magazines, possession of a destructive device and carrying a loaded gun in a car, according to court records.

Howell was arrested June 12 after police officers responded to a call from a member of the public and found him sitting in a white Acura sedan with the firearms, Santa Monica police said last year.b

He also had a five-gallon (19-liter) bucket with chemicals that could be used to make an explosive device, police said after his arrest.

Howell told police he was on his way to the LA Pride Festival in West Hollywood, a small municipality bordering Los Angeles. Police said he made no mention of what he planned to do at the parade.

Howell, who faces a sentence of more than nine years in prison if convicted, has been held in jail on $2 million bail since his arrest. He is due back in court on April 27.

A Los Angeles judge earlier this month found sufficient evidence to hold him for trial, according to court records.

Last year, prosecutors in Clark County, Indiana, where Howell lived at the time, charged him with molesting a 12-year old child, Clark County Prosecutor Jeremy Mull said by phone.

Indiana authorities brought the charge against Howell one day after he was charged with weapons offences in California. Authorities had been investigating the molestation allegation for about two weeks prior to pressing charges, Mull said.

Howell appeared to have left for California after learning he was under investigation in Indiana, Mull said. Authorities plan to have Howell sent to his home state to face the child molestation charge after the conclusion of his criminal case in California.

A Los Angeles prosecutor could not immediately be reached for further comment on Wednesday. Reuters was not immediately able to identify a legal representative for Howell.

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Categories: arms, Florida, James Wesley Howell, L.A. Gay Pride, LGBTQ, Los Angeles, News

Anti-Muslim Hate Did Not Reach High Peaks After the Westminster Terrorist Attacks

Something notable took place on the streets of London after the attack on Westminster Bridge which was carried out by Khalid Masood.

The usual picture has been that after a major terrorist attack, there is a corresponding significant peak and rise in anti-Muslim hatred. After Westminster, we did not see what was expected and there was no major peak in anti-Muslim hatred picked up across the country. If there was, our work within Tell MAMA would have immediately been alerted to this.

This raises some interesting questions. What was there about this terrible incident that did not create major ramifications for cohesion and policing within our country? What was done on this occassion to reduce possible impacts on communities and which also impacted on the frequency of anti-Muslim hate crime incidents across the country – with no major peak after what was a major terrorist incident? This is the first major terrorist incident in the last 3 years where there has not been a significant rise and peak in anti-Muslim hatred.

We understand that some groups put out messages asking people to significantly change behaviour patterns on the assumption of a major anti-Muslim backlash. We believe that such advice, (given no large scale backlash after the Westminster terrorist murders), was counter-productive and was not borne out with evidence on this occassion. Such advice may also impact heavily on the confidence of the more vulnerable in communities and we ask that agencies reflect on the messaging that they put out. 

What we can say though is that the capital still remains resilient against major community divisions and that the lives of Londoners as whole were not significanty impacted upon because of the terrorist attack. There are times when we can feel a sense of hope and the last week provides us with a real window of hope. London truly is a great city.

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Categories: anti-Muslim hate, Hate crime reports, News, Peak, terror attacks, Westminster

Pakistan says Facebook vows to tackle concerns over blasphemous content

Facebook has assured Pakistan that concerns about blasphemous content on the social media site will be addressed and a company delegation will visit this week to discuss the issue with the government, the interior minister said on Tuesday.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif earlier this month ordered that blasphemous content on social media be removed or blocked and that anyone posting such material be punished, and the government requested a meeting with Facebook.

Blasphemy is a criminal offence in the strictly Islamic country and can carry the death penalty.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, quoting from what he said was a letter from Facebook’s vice president received a day earlier, told reporters: “I wanted to reiterate that Facebook takes the concerns raised by the Pakistani government very seriously. We have also committed our representative to meet with you and senior officials of your government.”

Khan described this message as a “very big improvement” from Facebook as, he said, the U.S. social media giant generally had not responded to such complaints in the past.

He said Facebook through Pakistan’s ambassador in the United States has told him that over the past few months it had blocked 62 blasphemous webpages, and 45 in the past several days alone.

“We see it very positively that at the highest level Facebook has responded and takes this issue seriously.”

He said Pakistan’s Washington ambassador had spoken to the FBI and Justice Department to underline Islambad’s concerns and both agencies had been receptive.

There was no immediate comment from Facebook.

Last week, Khan warned he would close social media sites that fail to prevent online blasphemy, but gave no details.

Facebook data indicate the social media app has about 25-30 million active users in Pakistan even though Internet penetration remains poor in the South Asian nation. Facebook’s Instagram unit and rival Twitter are also popular.

The ruling PML-N party’s tough talk against blasphemy will appeal to its conservative voter base ahead of elections likely to take place next year.

At least 65 people, including lawyers, defendants and judges, have been murdered by Islamist militants over blasphemy allegations in Pakistan since 1990, according to think-tank figures and local media.

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Categories: Blasphemy, News, Pakistan

In Haringey, One of the Most Diverse Boroughs, Such Incidents Take Place

We received the following report from the London Borough of Haringey where a Muslim family reported that the following pig’s trotter was left outside of their home.  The hoof was left outside of the door and in the garden and was found in the morning as one of the owners left to drop their children at school.

Haringey, which is one of the most diverse boroughs in London, has previously come to light in Islamophobic hate incidents. Also, last year, graffiti was sprayed in a road off Green Lanes which directly targeted Muslims.

This is particularly concerning since Haringey has been an area where large investments in social cohesion have taken place in the last two decades. Tell MAMA made contact with the victim and offered support. Local police forces were extremely pro-active in assisting the family.

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Categories: Green Lanes, Haringey, Islamophobic hate incident, Muslim, News, pig's trotter

Showing common touch, Pope visits Muslim, elderly families in Milan

Pope Francis showed the common touch during a trip to Italy’s business capital on Saturday, visiting the homes of working-class families, including a Muslim one, and using an outdoor portable toilet.

Instead of making his entry into the northern city via its grand centre, site of a gothic cathedral, top fashion labels and the famed La Scala opera house, he started his one-day visit at a bleak public housing project on the outskirts.

He stopped at three small apartments, one of them home to Mihoual Abdel Karim, a Muslim immigrant from Morocco who lives there with his wife and three children.

“It was very emotional. It was like having a friend in the house,” said Karim, who works at a pharmaceutical factory and whose wife wears the veil.

They offered him a snack of sweets, nuts, dates and milk.

Since his election in 2013, the former bishop of Buenos Aires has made reaching out to the downtrodden a hallmark of his papacy, renouncing many of the perks associated with his role as leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.

He has shunned the spacious papal apartments in the Vatican in favour of a small suite in a guest house, is driven in a simple car rather than a limousine and has never used the luxurious lakeside papal summer residence south of Rome.

Francis then dropped in on an elderly Italian couple in their 80s, both of whom have major health problems.

Residents of the 10-story complex built in the 1970s say elevators often break down and that drug dealing and petty crime are growing problems. The area was dotted with abandoned cars until recently, when it was cleaned up for the papal visit.

Before addressing residents of the neighbourhood who had gathered in an open space, Francis startled some onlookers by walking without hesitation into a portable toilet stall that had been put there for use by the crowd.

Father Antonio Spadaro, who has interviewed the pope several times and written books about him, tweeted a picture of the 80-year-old pontiff emerging from the red-and-white plastic stall.

“Pope Francis … in Milan, uses a chemical toilet like ordinary people,” he tweeted.

Francis later addressed priests and nuns in the cathedral and then had lunch with some 100 prisoners at the city’s San Vittore jail.

Pope Francis talks with Orthodox priests during a meeting with priests and consecrated persons at the Duomo, the cathedral of Milan, in Milan, Italy, March 25, 2017 Osservatore Romano/Handout via Reuters

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Categories: Mihoual Abdel Karim, Muslim Family, Muslim migrant, News, Pope Francis, Visit

The truth behind the photo of the Muslim woman on Westminster Bridge

Tell MAMA is supporting the Muslim woman who was photographed on Westminster Bridge during the Westminster terror attack.

Through our support service, the woman, whose identity we protect, has given us a statement to give her side of events. We have published it in full below.

“I’m shocked and totally dismayed at how a picture of me is being circulated on social media. To those individuals who have interpreted and commented on what my thoughts were in that horrific and distressful moment, I would like to say not only have I been devastated by witnessing the aftermath of a shocking and numbing terror attack, I’ve also had to deal with the shock of finding my picture plastered all over social media by those who could not look beyond my attire, who draw conclusions based on hate and xenophobia.

 

My thoughts at that moment were one of sadness, fear, and concern. What the image does not show is that I had talked to other witnesses to try and find out what was happening, to see if I could be of any help, even though enough people were at the scene tending to the victims. I then decided to call my family to say that I was fine and was making my way home from work, assisting a lady along the way by helping her get to Waterloo station. My thoughts go out to all the victims and their families. I would like to thank Jamie Lorriman, the photographer who took the picture, for speaking to the media in my defence”.

We urge media outlets to share this statement, not her photo, due to the distress and fear this has caused. An innoncent bystander who was targeted online for no other reason than her Muslim identity. There should be no place for hatred on social media, it’s why we continue to work with Twitter on this matter to try and get content removed.

 

 

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Categories: Hijab, London, Media, News, terrorism

Hijabi Victim Requests Media Agencies to Stop Circulating Picture of Her Walking on Westminster Bridge

We have been contacted by a distraught young Muslim woman who was pictured walking on Westminster Bridge just after the terrorist attack yesterday which was carried out by West Midlands based terrorist, Khalid Masood.

The young Hijab wearing Muslim woman was pictured as she walked past victims and the circulated picture, which was used by anti-Muslim bigots and news agencies, has undermined the confidence of an innocent young woman who was also caught up in the melee after the attacks. The reality is that the victim has informed us of her shock having seen and walked into the incident and her further distress on having her pictures circulated by US and UK based anti-Muslim haters. In fact, pictures were also circulated of her with Nazi Swastikas around her arms, thereby playing to anti-Muslim tropes of all Muslims being extremists and potential killers.

Sadly, press sources have also used her pictures and the victim has expressly asked that her picture not be used and be taken down from such sites. The greater the exposure of the picture, the greater has been the harassment and the intimidation of this young Muslim female who found herself in the middle of a situation that affected the whole country.

This scenario shows how heated and charged the whole situation around Muslim communities has become where a young Muslim female has in the eyes of some, become the focal point after a major terroriist ncident. This is not only perverse, it fetishes Muslims from being citizens and Londoners, into bestial characters, which feeds the cycle of hatred against Muslims.

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Categories: Female Victim, Hijabi victim, Khalid Masood, News, Photo, Westminster Bridge, Westminster Terrorist attacks

Extremists Will Not Divide London Nor Intimidate us

Today, staff in one of our projects, Tell MAMA, found themselves in Parliament when outside, people were being murdered by what seems to be, a terrorist intent on damaging the peace of our country. Hundreds of people were locked in whilst our security services worked diligently to make everyone feel secure. As the Prime Minister said, “the voices of hate and evil will not tear us apart.”

We are not going to talk about hate crimes and incidents. We will continue to assist victims of hate crimes, but today, the events show us how we need to confront, challenge, disrupt and call out extremism where we see it and where we come across it. We have always said that extremism is one of the root causes that fractures community relations and that every effort must be made to counter those who peddle such narratives, whether far right or driven by Islamic State. Yet, we all know that extremist narratives also come from other sources, those who peddle division, perpetual victim ideology and a ‘them and us’ mentality. It also comes from those who deny the rights of others.

Tomorrow, let us redouble our efforts to focus on standing together as Londoners and in re-invigorating our desire to ensure that we are all safe and secure. Extremism must be targeted with everything our State has as resources.

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Categories: far right extremism, News, Parliament attack, Westminster Attack

Extremists Will Not Divide London Nor Intimidate us

Today, staff in Tell MAMA found themselves in Parliament when outside, people were being murdered by what seems to be, a terrorist intent on damaging the peace of our country. Hundreds of people were locked in whilst our security services worked diligently to make everyone feel secure. As the Prime Minister said, “the voices of hate and evil will not tear us apart.”

We are not going to talk about hate crimes and incidents. We will continue to assist victims of hate crimes, but today, the events show us how we need to confront, challenge, disrupt and call out extremism where we see it and where we come across it. We have always said that extremism is one of the root causes that fractures community relations and that every effort must be made to counter those who peddle such narratives, whether far right or driven by Islamic State. Yet, we all know that extremist narratives also come from other sources, those who peddle division, perpetual victim ideology and a ‘them and us’ mentality. It also comes from those who deny the rights of others.

Tomorrow, let us redouble our efforts to focus on standing together as Londoners and in re-invigorating our desire to ensure that we are all safe and secure. Extremism must be targeted with everything our State has as resources.

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Categories: far right extremism, News, terrorism, Westminster Attack