Cyclist shouted “I hate Muslims” and “I want to get rid of them” outside of a London school

A Muslim woman contacted Tell MAMA after witnessing a man shouting “I hate Muslims”, “Muslims bring destruction to the world”, and “I want to get rid of them” as cycled near a comprehensive school in east London.

Other witnesses to the anti-Muslim and Islamophobic comments included a teacher and a Muslim student who also wears the hijab.

The witness was happy for Tell MAMA to write about this incident anonymously as “this stupid behaviour must be stopped”.

The man also claimed that “bloody Muslims” had ‘ruined’ his life.

The incident occurred at around 17:20 GMT on September 24.

Tell MAMA reported the incident to the Metropolitan Police to investigate after the witness gave us their informed consent.

The perpetrator was described to Tell MAMA as being white, in their mid-to-late 30s or early 40s, who spoke with an ‘Eastern European’ accent, of slim build who sported a ponytail and glasses.

Witnesses did not photograph the perpetrator but did confirm that there is CCTV outside out of the school, adding that they believe the individual may be local as he’s been spotted in the area before.

In 2018, Tell MAMA verified 209 incidents in public areas, which included high numbers of instances of attacks on streets and pavements, either perpetrated by passers-by or people driving past. Other public areas include parks, high streets or shopping areas.

You can get advice through our confidential and free helpline on 0800 456 1226. Or through our free iOS or Android apps. Report through our online form. Or contact us via WhatsApp on 0734 184 6086.

 

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Categories: hate crime, London, News

Fanatic Plotted Attacks on British Military Base in Bury with Knives & Drones

An alleged fanatic accused of plotting an attack on the British military with knives and drones searched online for jihadist literature, nearby army bases, and “weak points in the human body”, a court has heard.

Hisham Muhammad had allegedly amassed a stash of weapons and identified a possible target at Castle Armoury, a territorial army base in Bury, Greater Manchester, jurors at the Old Bailey were told.

By May 2018, the accused Islamic State supporter had allegedly decided to commit a “lone wolf attack” in the United Kingdom.

His trial heard on Tuesday he had made dozens of internet searches between April and May, including for “armed police Manchester”, “suicide belt” and “pressure cooker”.

Prosecutor Emma Gargitter told the court the 25-year-old made a series of “no comment” police interviews over search terms including “military base near me”, “Glock 19”, “weak points in the human body” and for Islamic State and Al-Shabaab literature and videos.

Other searches on his tablet device included “traffic police UK” and for machetes, Samurai swords, stainless steel nuts and bolts, potassium nitrate, and aluminium oxide, the court heard.

In a prepared statement given to police in June, Muhammad had said: “I have no intention to die or kill someone. Islam prohibits one from committing suicide.”

He also said some of the searches were for “research purposes” and added in another police statement: “I’m not a terrorist. It’s not illegal to watch such videos.”

The prosecution allege Muhammad had also “researched how small drones might be adapted to drop some sort of device designed to harm others” as well as studying “how to use knives to lethal effect”.

The Bermudan national, of Victoria Avenue, Whitefield, Manchester, denies engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism.

His cousin Faisal Ahmad, 24, of the same address, has pleaded not guilty to failing to alert authorities of the alleged attack plan.

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Categories: British Armed Forces, Greater Manchester, Hisham Muhammad, News

Men screamed “you f*cking dirty P*ki terrorist” at Muslim teen as he got off a bus

A group of men screamed “you f*cking dirty P*ki terrorist” and “you shouldn’t be allowed to be here” at a Muslim teen as he exited a bus in the Leeds area on July 13.

He was wearing a thobe and a prayer cap having returned from his local mosque. Speaking to Tell MAMA, he described his unease and ‘embarrassment’ at reporting the incident to West Yorkshire Police, adding that others should, however, but consented for Tell MAMA to report the incident anonymously for intelligence.

The racist and dehumanising language used is demonstrative of how racialisation, and, other forms of othering, make racial epithets like “P*ki” indistinguishable from Muslim identity, in the minds of perpetrators. A concerning trend, however, which academics have observed occurring in the UK for decades. Scott Poynting and Victoria Mason argue: “It is true that, after 11 September 2001, the representation of the Asian ‘Other’ in the UK increasingly  undergoes a transformation from Asian or ‘Pakistani’  to  Muslim, but this was already  underway since the Rushdie affair in 1989, and arguably since the Iranian Revolution in  1979”.

Tell MAMA has continued to document how the hateful slur “terrorist” has targeted Muslim men and women in public spaces, the workplace, when volunteering, or in employment, on public transport, or when having a driving lesson.

Wishing to remain anonymous, the Muslim teen described the perpetrators as being white, male, in their late teens or early twenties.

In 2018, almost one-third of verified reports to Tell MAMA occurred in public areas (28 per cent, n=208).

You can get advice through our confidential and free helpline on 0800 456 1226. Or through our free iOS or Android apps. Report through our online form. Or contact us via WhatsApp on 0734 184 6086.

 

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Categories: hate crime, Leeds, News, West Yorkshire Police, Yorkshire

Nazi-Obsessed Teenager Who Dreamt of Planning Terrorism Jailed

A Nazi-obsessed Buckinghamshire teenager who said it was his dream to plan a terror attack and vowed to fill London’s streets with blood has been jailed.

Jacek Tchorzewski built up a cache of terrorist manuals and guides for homemade firearms, and had an interest in Satanism and occult practices.

The 18-year-old, of High Wycombe, was caught with a range of documents for planning an attack when his electronics were seized on February 20 this year.

Sentencing him to four years behind bars on Friday Judge Anuja Dhir QC

said: “They (prosecutors) say that the examination of your devices revealed that you are a deeply entrenched neo-Nazi with an interest in Satanism and occult practices.”

The dark-haired, lightly-bearded and bespectacled defendant stood in the dock wearing a shirt and tie as he was jailed.

In June Tchorzewski admitted 10 counts of possession of documents containing information of use to a terrorist.

Ms Dhir said the following month a “chilling” handwritten note found in his prison cell read: “Let’s fill our hearts with terror. And London’s streets with blood.”

Prosecutor Naomi Parsons told the court at the Old Bailey: “He has an obsession, admiration for Nazis, neo-Nazis, far right extremists, far right murderers.”

Among the PDFs found on his hard drive were the FM 5-31 Army Field Manual and Expedient Homemade Firearms Vol II. He also had The Big Book Of Mischief, The Infection Cookbook and The Terrorist’s Handbook, as well as how-to guides for building his own weapons, including a “zip gun” – a firearm made from welded pipes.

Other guides in his possession contained instructions for making a pistol out of sheet metal and a silencer made from a plastic bottle.

The Polish national who had stayed with his mother in the UK had also professed that it was his dream to “plan some terrorism”.

The court heard that he said: “I just wanna…I had this stupid plan, when I would meet up with someone, we would live off grid…and plan some terrorism.

He went on: “We would import guns from Balkans, chemistry from Germany…yeah, that’s my dream.”

The court heard that a forensic psychologist’s report showed Tchorzewski has some autism spectrum disorder traits and “may have an emerging personality disorder”.

He made no reaction when told he was jailed for four years, with a year on extended licence, answering simply “yes” when asked if he understood the sentence.

Jenny Hopkins from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “It is worrying that someone this young chose to become a neo-Nazi and download terrorist how-to guides.

“Let me be clear, possessing terrorist material is a criminal offence and, like Jacek Tchorzewski, people who do so risk going to prison.”

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Categories: INterest in Satanism and Occult, Jacek Tchorzewski, News, Polish, terrorism

Right-Wing Extremism Fastest Growing Threat in the UK, Counter-Terror Chief Warns

Right-wing extremism is the fastest growing terrorist threat in the UK – with supporters seeking to mimic jihadist attacks, police have said.

The UK head of counter-terrorism Neil Basu said seven of the 22 plots foiled since March 2017 have been linked to far-right ideologies.

About 10% of around 800 live terror investigations were linked to right-wing terrorism, while the Government’s controversial Prevent programme has seen referrals nearly doubling since 2015/16 to 18%.

“It’s rising from a low base, but it’s probably the fastest growing bit of my casebook at the moment,” the Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner said at a briefing on Thursday

“I see it as my job, and the security service as my major partner, to stop that.”

Mr Basu said counter-terror police and MI5 have disrupted right-wing plots “designed to kill people”.

Attack methods used and planned have mimicked those seen in jihadist plots, including knife attacks and seeking to create improvised explosive devices, he told reporters.

Mr Basu said some of the Islamic State guidance materials were also being used by right-wing terrorists, although they tend to target specific demographics or individuals rather than launching indiscriminate attacks in a public place.

And he said the biggest threat still comes from Islamist and jihadist terrorists.

“Despite the increases, right-wing terrorism remains a relatively small percentage of our overall demand, but when nearly a third of the plots foiled by police and security services since 2017 relate to right-wing ideology, it lays bare why we are taking this so seriously,” he said.

“As a proportion of our overall threat it’s definitely increasing, whereas the Islamist threat is staying the same, albeit at a very high level.”

Mr Basu said the National Action group has been “decimated” since it was banned in December 2016 after members publicly praised Thomas Mair for the terrorist murder of Labour MP Jo Cox.

Right-wing extremists now operate within small groups across international borders online, with lone actors, who can be radicalised within weeks or days, posing the greatest threat, he added.

The counter-terror chief said young people and those with mental health issues are particularly vulnerable to becoming radicalised, with children as young as 14 linked to right-wing terrorism.

University students and members of the military have also been targeted.

“We are bringing the full might of the UK counter-terrorism machine to bear against those extremists of any ideology who wish to do us harm or incite violence,” Mr Basu said.

“And that is evident not only in the number of plots we have foiled, but also the number of convictions we have achieved and continue to chase through the courts.”

Last week, white supremacist Vincent Fuller, 50, was jailed for 18 years and nine months for stabbing 19-year-old Dimitar Mihaylov in what a judge called a “terrorist act”.

Three other right-wing terrorists, including a “16-year-old Nazi”, from Bradford, who was convicted of making a bomb in a bid to “kill many people” are due to be sentenced in Leeds and London on Friday.

But Mr Basu said police “can’t arrest ourselves out of this problem” and called on the public to come forward if they fear a friend or family member is becoming radicalised.

“I have been called ridiculously idealistic, but I believe more than ever that evil triumphs when good people do nothing,” he said.

“In the UK the Prevent programme is full of people who get up every day to do something to protect those who need our help, and I believe that is worth defending and fighting for.”

Mr Basu said both hate crime and right-wing terrorism had increased since the EU referendum, but pointed out that spikes were also seen after incidents such as Islamist attacks.

“This is not just about Brexit or the referendum. It’s an international problem,” he added.

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Categories: far right extremism, Neil Basu, News, Right wing terrorism

Muslim man told “this is a Christian country and Muslims have no right to be here” on crowded train

The British Transport Police (BTP) are investigating an incident on the London Underground after a male passenger harassed and told a South Asian Muslim man that it’s a “Christian country and Muslims have no right to be here”, adding that Muslims made him feel “sick” and were “ungrateful” and “terrorists”.

Speaking to Tell MAMA, the man, who wishes to remain anonymous, described how the racist passenger boarded the Central line at Bond Street station and appeared in a drunken state, and before being targeted, observed how the perpetrator had asked other passengers for cannabis and invited (unsuccessfully) various women to ‘sit on his lap’ before his attention turned to a woman (in front of the Muslim man) noting her crucifix necklace, and asked if she was a Christian, to which she replied ‘yes’, and he demonstrated a tattoo on his arm confirming his own Christian beliefs, shouting, “this is a Christian country!”.

He then elbowed the Muslim man and again reiterated this was a ‘Christian country’ as his Islamophobic and anti-Muslim rant continued.

Due to the perpetrator’s aggressive and drunken state, he feared that the man would turn violent. To remove himself from further abuse, and the potential of violence, he exited the train at Queensway Station and took alternative trains home.

For a moment, he considered challenging the racist passenger, informing him that over a million Muslims had thought for the UK during both World Wars, that thousands of Muslims arrived and settled to rebuild the country, so people like him “could sit on this train in peace and security and make those vile comments” but, in his own words, “it would have been futile trying to reason or educate an ignorant anti-Muslim drunkard”.

Having not experienced such abuse before, it left him with mixed emotions and an added fear that his daughters and wife, who wear hijabs, would be targeted in the future. He told Tell MAMA: “I have mixed emotions ranging from fear, concern, anger and disappointment, and do not feel comfortable travelling on public transport like this again”.

A lack of intervention from members of the public on that crowded train over the August bank holiday felt just as bad as the abuse and harassment he faced, adding, that this demonstrated to him how the normalisation of anti-Muslim language had made some ‘too immune’ to intervene.

After returning home, he reported the Islamophobic incident to the BTP online.

He described the perpetrator as being a male, in their early twenties, who is of mixed ethnicity.

The weaponisation of a Christian identity (despite data pointing to a falling rate of Christian belief, in contrast to rising forms of atheism, a small rise in those identifying as Muslim, as 55 per cent of people surveyed did admit to believing in a God figure) in this example, demonstrates how radical forms of othering, are direct products of colonial thinking regarding the position of religious minorities, and how racialisation facilitated racial hierarchies despite Muslims and Islam being part of British life for centuries.

In 2018, Tell MAMA verified 59 anti-Muslim and Islamophobic incidents on transport networks.

You can get advice from our confidential and free helpline on 0800 456 1226. Or through our free iOS or Android apps. Report through our online form. Or contact us via WhatsApp on 0734 184 6086.

 

 

 

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Categories: Central Line, News, TFL

The RNLI respond to misleading “funding burkinis for Africans” articles

The Times and the Mail on Sunday’s viral coverage of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s (RNLI) overseas spending generated much outrage, but such outrage is contingent on a fundamental, crucial falsehood: the RNLI is not funding burkinis in Tanzania, as a majority of their funding for international work comes from private donors or charitable organisations, information that is freely available on the RNLI website.

Credit: Mail on Sunday/Mailonline.

So, such headlines, like “RNLI funding burkinis for Africans while cutting jobs” published in The Times newspaper on Saturday, are, therefore, further problemtised by their racialised framing. The Mail on Sunday headline (via the MailOnline website was no better). Tanzania has a population of 55.5 million. A clear majority identify as Christian (61.4 per cent), as 35.2 per cent of the population identifies as Muslim, according to data published in 2014. The semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar, however, a focal point of both stories, is an archipelago island with over one million people, maintains a political union with Tanzania and Islam is the faith practised by almost all of the population. But such intricacies are lost as neocolonial narratives reduce a continent of where the United Nations recognises 54 countries. Africa is, after all, not a country. This issue of media framing is also nothing new.

The RNLI works with various partners in Tanzania, many of which were suspiciously absent in the media framing, which likely concerns the absence of the burkini in volunteers or participants. For example, there is no mention of Tanzania Search and Rescue, a partner of the RNLI, which is a volunteer-run search and rescue operation that operates off the seas of Tanzania.

The Panje Project in Tanzania has gained media interest over the years, including coverage in National Geographic and CNN.

The RNLI issued a press release in response to the press articles, stating that no more than 2 per cent of its expenditure goes towards projects abroad, which seeks to improve the capacity and skills of community groups in various countries. And, as the press release makes clear: “the majority of the RNLI’s involvement [with the Panje Project is] funded by a donor who specifically wanted the money to go towards this project”. Funding also contributes to classroom-based education initiatives.

There is a moral imperative to improving the swimming skills of individuals, as, according to the World Health Organisation, drowning is the third leading cause of unintentional death worldwide, and for children (aged 1 to 14), the issue is most acute in countries like Bangladesh, where 43 per cent of all deaths in children aged 1 to four relate to drowning. In 2017, the RNLI interviewed Jeny, a swimming teacher and volunteer lifeguard, who said: “In small ways, I believe we are making real change here. Until now, the water surrounding us has been a source of life and death. Simple swim skills can make all the difference. We need local women to be leaders and an inspiration. Through this job, teaching children to swim and training to save lives, I’m trying to be the female role model I didn’t have when I was growing up”.

In Bangladesh, the RNLI works with various partners, including the Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence. Again, the RNLI is transparent about the funding streams for projects in this country. Others took to Twitter to praise their work in Bangladesh.

Following an outpouring of support, the official RNLI Twitter account wrote: “As world experts in saving lives at sea, using just 2% of our budget to help combat a global drowning epidemic that costs around 370,000 lives a year (mostly children) has to be the right thing to do”.

The hashtag “#RNLI_disgrace” became a UK-wide trend on Twitter as users reclaimed the hashtag to praise the charity and their important work.

The Mail on Sunday perpetuates this falsehood as it captioned a photo, uploaded to their website, which referenced “RNLI-financed burkinis” raises questions about the privacy of the children and adults photographed, in an image which first appeared on their Facebook page in August 2017.

For many Muslim women, wearing the burkini in parts of Europe, New Zealand, and the United States has become a political act, as Muslim women in France continue to defy the burkini ban. More broadly, however, it’s about allowing Muslim women and girls fair access, helping them to enjoy swimming for recreational purposes, and to gain potentially life-saving water safety skills.

Tell MAMA continues to urge media outlets to consider how their choice of language influences wider public discourse.

The RNLI has since seen a ‘sharp rise‘ in donations.

 

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Categories: Burkini, Mail Online, media framing, News, Times

Far-right ‘freedom picnic’ for Poles in Manchester features antisemitic speaker

A speaker at a far-right “freedom picnic” in Bury, Manchester on September 15 had previously said that Poles were “being outmanoeuvred by Judeans who are trying to force our government to pay extortion money disguised as compensation”.

Stanisław Michalkiewicz, hosts a radio show on the Polish-Catholic owned Radio Maryja, which, according to the Anti Defamation League, has spread antisemitic messaging to its listeners for at least 25 years.

Aleksander Gancarz, the president of the Australian Institute of Polish Affairs, condemned Michalkiewicz’s presence in the country last February.

Michalkiewicz is facing legal issues in Poland after suggesting that a 13-year-old sexual abuse survivor was, in fact, a “whore” after the Catholic Church agreed to award her 1 million zloty in compensation.

He also referred to gay people as “sodomites” during a Polish-language radio interview last month where the discussion included a reference to an apparent “LGBT ideology”.

The event, hosted by a new far-right coalition called Konfederacja, was first exposed by Faith Matters in July, following their success among some Polish diaspora communities during the European Elections.

Another speak at Sunday’s event is Sławomir Mentzen, who is credited with inventing Konfederacja’s caustic slogan, “We don’t want Jews, gays, abortion, taxes and the EU”.

Sebastian Ross, another speaker, wrote on his Facebook page in April that some Jewish people were using “guilt” to weaponise antisemitism to generate funds for individuals and organisations to monitor it. Ross attached a cropped photo of a Jewish man with their finger in their nose to emphasise his point.

Credit: Facebook.

This image, however, continues to appear in neo-Nazis and white nationalist memes. ImgFlip, a popular website for creating memes, has become awash with antisemitic and Nazi imagery when using the simple search term “Jew”. The top image choice for memes includes the infamous “antisemitic meme of the Jew” which appeared on White Aryan Resistance hate site in 2004.

Janusz Korwin-Mikke, the disgraced former MEP, is another confirmed speaker.

Faith Matters continues to raise concerns about Korwin-Mikke and his repellent views.

Faith Matters will be forwarding its investigation to the relevant authorities in the Greater Manchester area.

 

 

 

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Categories: Antisemitism, Far Right groups, Konfederacja, News

Lone Wolf Terror Attack Planned Using Drones, Axes and ‘Ninja Eggs’, Court Told

An Islamic State fan plotted a “lone wolf” attack on the British army or police using a specially-adapted drone, knives, axes and Japanese “Ninja eggs”, a court has heard.

Hisham Muhammad, 25, amassed an array of weapons at his three-bedroom rented terrace in Whitefield, Bury, including a tomahawk, a machete and bear-claws, the Old Bailey was told.

He had also set about making a prototype of a drone attachment using lollipop sticks to drop a projectile or “harmful” device on his target, it was claimed.

He had allegedly researched police and army bases, including Castle Armoury Barracks in Bury, Greater Manchester, which he visited before his arrest last June.

The Bermudan national, who moved to Britain in 2013, had allegedly helped fund his activities with money from a bogus online escort agency scam.

He was caught after his landlord spotted  “suspicious” items at the defendant’s home including knives, a tub of wires and a soldering iron, the court heard.

Jurors were told his landlord had visited the property after Muhammad and his cousin Faisal Abu Ahmad, 24, had fallen behind with their rent.

In a search, police uncovered the stash of weapons as well as lollipop sticks attached to an electrical component with black tape and various wires, jurors heard.

Some of the components allegedly matched sketches and detailed notes for adapting a drone.

Muhammad’s interest in the devices dated back to late 2017 or early 2018 when he had called next door to retrieve a small drone from his neighbour’s back garden, jurors heard.

Officers also seized two painted eggs containing crushed chilli seeds and shards of glass which were described as Japanese “ninja eggs”.

Prosecutor Anne Whyte QC said Muhammad had steeped himself in “barbarous” Islamic State propaganda as he planned a “lone wolf” attack in Britain.

An examination of Muhammad’s tablet computer revealed an IS video entitled My Revenge had been watched eight times between May 21 and May 30 last year.

Ms Whyte said the video in French justified and encouraged “lone wolf attacks” in France and Europe, and included gruesome footage of executions.

The defendant had trawled the internet for postcodes in Westminster and central Manchester, knives, drones and British armed police, jurors heard.

On May 21 last year, he allegedly researched suicide belts, machetes and Victoria train station which had been part of the scene of the Manchester Arena terror attack a year before.

Two days later, Muhammad visited an army recruitment event in Bury town centre and the nearby Castle Armoury Barracks where expressed an interest in joining up, jurors were told.

It was claimed the defendant went on to Google “weak points of the human body for assault” as well as armed police in UK and Manchester.

In a police interview, Muhammad denied planning an attack, saying he had a “gift from god for making things and liked to innovate”.

The court heard he had cast doubt that the Manchester Arena bombing and Westminster Bridge attack had happened and questioned whether video of Fusilier Lee Rigby’s killing was real.

Ms Whyte told jurors: “We allege Hisham Muhammad intended to commit an act of terrorism – he plainly considered and researched the use of a drone to drop some sort of harmful device.

“That, we say, was always going to present technical challenges and he combined an anticipated use of a drone with plans to use knives or other bladed items in order to stab human targets.

“Whatever his final approach to an adapted drone, by the time of his arrest, he had plainly resolved to commit some sort of knife attack instead.”

Muhammad of Victoria Avenue, Whitefield, Bury, denies engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism.

Abu Ahmad, of the same address, has pleaded not guilty to failing to alert authorities of the alleged attack plan.

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Categories: Hisham Muhammad, Lee Rigby, Manchester Arena, News

Woman Charged with Homophobic Hate Crime at Pride March

A 38-year-old woman has been charged with a homophobic hate crime public order offence after allegedly shouting “shame on you” at people taking part in a Pride march.

Jamila Choudhury, from Walthamstow, east London, is accused of harassing participants as they passed her during the event on July 27.

Footage posted on social media showed a woman wearing a niqab repeatedly shouting “shame on you” at participants.

In the video the woman could be heard shouting: “God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.

“Shame on you, shame on all of you. Shame on you, you despicable people. Shame on you, you shameless people.”

In a statement, published on July 28, We are Waltham Forest Pride said: “This morning we were made aware of a video showing an individual shouting homophobic abuse at some in the parade. The police are looking into this as a potential hate crime and while we condemn all homophobic abuse, we also condemn outright and unequivocally all forms of hatred and abuse, including Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, and want to make it absolutely clear that this was one, lone individual and in no way do that person’s views represent the views of any section of the local community. It’s depressing, but comes as no surprise, that far-right commentators like Katie Hopkins have seized on this video and tried to use it to hasten their twisted view of society in order to stigmatise the Muslim community in Waltham Forest. We utterly condemn this, and any attempts to use this incident to fan the flames of discord between communities in our great borough.”

Stella Creasy, MP for Walthamstow, condemned the abuse in a tweet on July 27 which read: “Gutted to see this and clear such hatred isn’t acceptable anywhere let alone in our home town- proud that many from all faiths and none today including Islam joined the Waltham Forest Pride march to show Walthamstow really does mean welcome.” She ended her tweet with the hashtag “#loveislove”.

Choudhury was charged on September 5 and is due to appear on bail at Thames Magistrates’ Court on Thursday October 3.

 

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Categories: East London, hate crime, homophobia, Jamila Choudhury, News