Racist admits calling woman a “Jihadi” and threatening sexual assault

A 44-year-old man admitted to targeting a group of women with racist abuse, sexual threats, and harassment and pleaded guilty at the Isle of Wight magistrates yesterday (October 25).

Allan Cassells of Clanfield, Waterlooville, targeted the women at the Ryde Seafront on June 6 at around 10 pm, as the Island Echo described how Cassells approached them and became abusive.

The news report detailed how he targeted one woman and called her a “jihadi” (admitting to racially aggravated harassment), targeted another woman for her hair colour (referring to her as ‘Irn Bru’), and threatened to “ejaculate down their throats”. He admitted to two further counts of using threatening, abusive or insulting words/behaviour to cause harassment, alarm, or distress.

Following his arrest, police found a small quantity of cannabis.

The Isle of Wight County Press detailed how Cassells was already the subject of a suspended sentence for possessing a bladed article in a public area.

Tell MAMA has cited several case studies where Muslim women faced similar abuse in public spaces over the years, including the use of racialised sexual harassment.

Allan Cassells will appear at the Isle of Wight Crown Court on November 22 for sentencing.

 

 

 

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Categories: Hampshire Police, hate crime, Isle of Wight, Jihadi, News, sexual assault

Neo-Nazi jailed for posting extreme racist materials on Russian social media

A 61-year-old neo-Nazi has become the second individual jailed for the extreme racist material they posted on the Russian social media platform VK.

David Hutchinson, from Sutton, pleaded guilty to seven offences of publishing racist material, contrary to Section 19 of the Public Order Act 1986, between December 2020 and October 2021, receiving a three-year prison sentence at Kingston Crown Court.

According to the Evening Standard, Hutchinson sought to recruit other white supremacists to enact racist violence on a street level.

Our investigation of Hutchinson’s social media revealed a broad tapestry of highly violent racist imagery and language, including repeated use of the N-word and the K-word, targeting Black and Jewish communities.

In one noteworthy post that matches the timeline of criminal offences committed, we identified a horrific racist cartoon about Jewish communities drawn from the notorious white supremacist hate site White Aryan Resistance. The author of these racist cartoons created them under the moniker “A Wyatt Man” in 2004 – their true identity remains a subject of much curiosity and investigation. The caption Hutchinson added called for direct violence towards the “K****”. Other content called for the murder of Jewish communities.

Other examples of content identified included racialised, harmful memes about Muslims that included “This is England, not Muslim lands” and a cartoon that invoked the Nazi Holocaust with Muslims depicted in gas chambers. Other anti-Muslim memes compared Islamic beliefs to faecal matter and referred to Muslims collectively as paedophiles. In May 2021, they posted a dehumanising comment about how to “handle a Muzzie rat”. Tell MAMA has long documented how anti-Muslim language amongst the far-right will invoke dehumanising language like “musrat” or “mus-slime”.

A dehumanising and racist post linking Black communities to disease also appeared, as did numerous examples of Hutchinson using the N-word and sharing pro-slavery memes.

Repeated homages to Enoch Powell appeared on their VK account, with calls for people to “wake up”.

Other content included a “straight white pride” meme alongside misogynistic materials (pornographic or otherwise) and conspiracies about Covid vaccines and lockdowns.

Nick Price, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter Terrorism Division, said in a statement: “Over a 10-month period David Hutchinson persistently posted these derogatory racist memes on a social media site which he believed consisted of like-minded people.

“His comments went beyond free speech and demonstrated hostility to several racial groups. By his pleas he has accepted they were intended to stir up hatred against those groups.

“Hate crimes have a corrosive effect on society and we will always prosecute where there is sufficient evidence to do so.”

Responding to the verdict, our Director Iman Atta said: “We welcome the conviction of 61-year-old neo-Nazi David Hutchinson. They dreamed of turning their vicious, asinine racist views towards Muslim, Jewish, and Black communities online into violence on our streets.

“Our investigation found extreme racism and homophobia on their VK account.

We cannot stress the importance of flagging such harmful materials to ourselves at Tell MAMA and the police.”

 

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Categories: CPS, Far Right groups, hate crime, London, News, VK

Neo-Nazi jailed for posting extreme racist materials on Russian social media

A 61-year-old neo-Nazi has become the second individual jailed for the extreme racist material they posted on the Russian social media platform VK.

David Hutchinson, from Sutton, pleaded guilty to seven offences of publishing racist material, contrary to Section 19 of the Public Order Act 1986, between December 2020 and October 2021, receiving a three-year prison sentence at Kingston Crown Court.

According to the Evening Standard, Hutchinson sought to recruit other white supremacists to enact racist violence on a street level.

Our investigation of Hutchinson’s social media revealed a broad tapestry of highly violent racist imagery and language, including repeated use of the N-word and the K-word, targeting Black and Jewish communities.

In one noteworthy post that matches the timeline of criminal offences committed, we identified a horrific racist cartoon about Jewish communities drawn from the notorious white supremacist hate site White Aryan Resistance. The author of these racist cartoons created them under the moniker “A Wyatt Man” in 2004 – their true identity remains a subject of much curiosity and investigation. The caption Hutchinson added called for direct violence towards the “K****”. Other content called for the murder of Jewish communities.

Other examples of content identified included racialised, harmful memes about Muslims that included “This is England, not Muslim lands” and a cartoon that invoked the Nazi Holocaust with Muslims depicted in gas chambers. Other anti-Muslim memes compared Islamic beliefs to faecal matter and referred to Muslims collectively as paedophiles. In May 2021, they posted a dehumanising comment about how to “handle a Muzzie rat”. Tell MAMA has long documented how anti-Muslim language amongst the far-right will invoke dehumanising language like “musrat” or “mus-slime”.

A dehumanising and racist post linking Black communities to disease also appeared, as did numerous examples of Hutchinson using the N-word and sharing pro-slavery memes.

Repeated homages to Enoch Powell appeared on their VK account, with calls for people to “wake up”.

Other content included a “straight white pride” meme alongside misogynistic materials (pornographic or otherwise) and conspiracies about Covid vaccines and lockdowns.

Nick Price, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter Terrorism Division, said in a statement: “Over a 10-month period David Hutchinson persistently posted these derogatory racist memes on a social media site which he believed consisted of like-minded people.

“His comments went beyond free speech and demonstrated hostility to several racial groups. By his pleas he has accepted they were intended to stir up hatred against those groups.

“Hate crimes have a corrosive effect on society and we will always prosecute where there is sufficient evidence to do so.”

Responding to the verdict, our Director Iman Atta said: “We welcome the conviction of 61-year-old neo-Nazi David Hutchinson. They dreamed of turning their vicious, asinine racist views towards Muslim, Jewish, and Black communities online into violence on our streets.

“Our investigation found extreme racism and homophobia on their VK account.

We cannot stress the importance of flagging such harmful materials to ourselves at Tell MAMA and the police.”

 

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Categories: CPS, Far Right groups, hate crime, London, News, VK

Racist who punched taxi driver and called him a “P*** b******” jailed

A racist who viciously assaulted a Muslim taxi driver received a 20-month prison sentence.

Manchester Evening News reported that 30-year-old David Platt was found guilty in under two hours at Manchester Crown Court.

Platt subjected taxi driver Mohammed Zubair to a torrent of racist abuse, including calling him the P-word and mocking the traditional clothing Mr Zubair wore to celebrate Eid with his family before collecting Platt and his girlfriend.

Platt called him a “P*** b******” and a “scruffy c***”.

The violence of the punch delivered to Mr Zubair left him with a fractured cheekbone and an injury to his eyelid, which required hospitalisation.

Having exited his vehicle, David Platt threatened him with further violence.

The Manchester Evening News report also disclosed that Platt had lied to the police during his initial interview, falsely claiming that he assaulted Mr Zubair because he caught him “masturbating”.

The racist assault caused great shock and distress to Mr Zubair.

Tell MAMA continues to provide taxi drivers and firms with a tailored programme within our existing support structures, the Safety, Security & Beyond scheme.

With Hate Crime Awareness Week upon us, we remind Muslim and other minoritised groups about the free guide “Hate Crime: a guide for those affected”, written in partnership with the Community Security Trust and the Crown Prosecution Service, which is free to download here.

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Categories: Greater Manchester Police, hate crime, News, taxi driver

Barnsley man, 42, charged with terror offence linked to the far-right

A 42-year-old man from Barnsley charged with an offence linked to far-right terrorism was granted conditional bail last Friday (October 7).

The BBC identified him as Neil Sharp of Storr Mill Lane in Cudworth – who stands accused of a Section 2 offence of the Terrorism Act 2000, namely, the alleged distribution of terrorist material online.

The arrest occurred in May following an investigation by South Yorkshire Police into alleged digital far-right terrorism online.

Sharp will appear at The Old Bailey on October 21.

 

 

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Categories: Far Right groups, News, online, terrorism

Muslim and Jewish communities targeted in 65% of religious hate crimes in 2021/22

Recorded hate crimes across all protected strands are up in 2021/22 across England and Wales, with Muslim and Jewish communities again disproportionately impacted by religiously motivated offences (65 per cent of all recorded offences), the latest Home Office data reveals.

In two-fifths of incidents, Muslims faced 42 per cent (3,459) of all religiously aggravated offences, with Jewish communities experiencing over one-fifth of all such recorded offences as around just 0.5 of the population self-identified as Jewish in the 2011 Census. However, the dataset provides no data from Greater Manchester Police (owing to IT-related issues).

Other faiths targeted included Christians (8 per cent, 701 offences), Other (5 per cent, 403 offences), Sikh (4 per cent, 301 offences), no religion or belief (3 per cent, 209 offences), Hindu (2 per cent, 161 incidents). Police forces who submitted data recorded 36 offences against Buddhists, with an Unknown religion category accounting for 17 per cent (1,426) of related offences.

Consistent with previous datasets, public order offences accounted for 51 per cent of recorded offences. However, worryingly, violent acts accounted for 41 per cent, meaning that almost all recorded forms of hate crime in England and Wales in 2021/22 involved abuse or violence.

Recorded hate crimes in Wales rose by 35 per cent.

For the first time, recorded reports of racist hate crimes topped 100,000 – a profoundly troubling milestone.

The 56 per cent rise in transphobic hate crimes (up from 2,799 to 4,355 incidents) may partly owe to social media, the Home Office briefing acknowledged.

Disability-related hate crimes rose by 43 per cent (rising to 14,242 recorded incidents from 9,945 the previous year).

Anti-LGBT+ hate crime also rose – with a 41 per cent (from 18,596 to 26,152 offences) increase on the previous, resulting in the support service GALOP highlighting the rising need for their services.

Factors in a drop in charges or summons (8 per cent, down from the 12 per cent figure in the previous year), the Home Office made clear, included that an increasing number of recorded crimes are “challenging” and “complex”. For example, the most recorded police outcome with violent offences was “evidential difficulties as the victim does not support action”.

Responding to the rise in recorded hate crimes, our Director, Iman Atta OBE, said: “At Tell MAMA, we recorded a noticeable rise in household-related harassment, violence and abuse motivated by anti-Muslim hate and racism as we emerged from various lockdowns in 2020. This worrying trend continued throughout 2021. The latest Home Office data confirms and validates our findings about how religiously-motivated offences targeted Muslims in 42% of cases.

“We have long warned about rising levels of violence in public spaces or on public transport, the targeting of places of worship (we logged 41 incidents against mosques in 2021, up from 22 reports in 2020), and the danger of far-right rhetoric gaining mainstream traction online. No place of worship should ever be fearful of vandalism or violence; people should be free to walk our streets in religious clothing without harassment or violence. However, trigger events abroad or changing political climates embolden some to target minorities in our society – it falls on civil society, the media and politicians to temper their rhetoric and ensure dialogue, mutuality, and accuracy overcome division.”

Responding to the figures, Professor Neil Chakrabarti, who specialises in Criminology at the University of Leicester, said, “Trigger events, hostile politics & economic conditions all matter”.

The Home Office briefing added: “It also thought that growing awareness of hate crime is likely to have led to improved identification of such offences. It is difficult to assess whether the increase in the last year is a continuation of this trend, or whether the rise in hate crime is, in at least part, genuine”. Adding, in the absence of the Crime Survey for England and Wales that “estimates means it is harder to determine with increased in police recorded hate crime are genuine, or a continuation of recording improvements”.

But such qualifiers are not new. Previous Home Office briefings have used similar language whilst acknowledging “genuine” rises in hate crime (notably following the EU referendum result). For example, see statements found in the 2018/19 briefing.

We remind the public and communities to use our safety advice – available in the Resources section of our website.

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Categories: data, hate crime, Home Office, News