SCORES OF ENGLISH DEFENCE LEAGUE MEMBERS ARRESTED PRIOR TO PLANNED ATTACK ON OCCUPY LONDON

Okay, this group needs to go. When Current’s program Vanguard did a piece on the Islamophobic activists in the US and UK, it recalled similar programs that were done back in the 80s and 90s about the neo-Nazi “movement” in the US. They were basically informercials for the Klan, Aryan Nations and anyone else willing to put his face in front of a camera. Unlike the neo-Nazis in the US however, the English Defence League (EDL) can get 5000 people in the street to do things ranging from street protests to full-on violence while supporters like Pamela Geller of Stop Islamization of America (SIOA) and her partner Robert Spencer play dumb while they do it. But the EDL decided they were going to attack Occupy London on Armistace Day if they were still in front of London’s St. Paul Cathedral. This wasn’t just threats made on the internet. EDL members were in the Occupy LSX encampment on Thursday  – which is why nearly 200 of them were arrested by police who viewed them as an imminent threat. And just so they don’t try the “we’re not racist” routine they are so fond of, we should note that a longtime veteran of neo-Nazi activism as a member of among other groups Combat 18 was among the arrestees; Make no mistake about it. The EDL is a terrorist group, much in the same fashion they have demonized all Muslims to be. It is not hyperbole. It is real. They need to be treated as such.

One People’s Project

LONDON, UK–In a pre-emptive strike against the group, almost 200 members of the the fascist anti-Muslim English Defence League (EDL) were arrested outside an Armistace Day ceromony following threats of violence against the encampment of Occupy London on Friday, according to the Guardian.

The EDL threatened on Facebook and other websites to burn down protesters tents if they were still outside St Paul’s Cathedral on Remembrance Sunday. The EDL statement was read to Occupy LSX on Friday to make Occupiers know that a threat was made. Meanwhile, as the law states that officers can arrest if they believe a breach of the peace to be imminent, Scotland Yard mobilized police to the ceromony outside the Cenotaph in Whitehall, a memorial to honor England’s war dead, notably those who died during World War I. 179 members were arrested, police believing they were headed to St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Occupy London encampment.

Last years Armistice Day saw scuffles between the EDL and police when gloryhound Anjem Choudary’s group Muslims Against Crusades(MAC)  burned two large poppies outside the Royal Albert Hall in London during a two-minute silence. Amid reports that MAC planned to hold another demo this Armistice Day, police raided three homes connected to the group on Thursday, and the Home Secretary Theresa May banned the group. By Friday, Chodray announced that MAC had been disbanded.

According to the website EDL News, Eddie Stampton of the neo-Nazi organizations Combat 18 and the British People’s Party was among those arrested. As he was led away he shouted, “Look what they do to patriots!” and chanted “English Defence League!” For their part, the EDL says on their Facebook page that their members were slowly being released without charge, and that they as an organization need to rethink their relationship with the police. “Message to police and governmennt after disrespecting our day of respect for our heroes,” one now-deleted post read, “we are hitting London in force in the New Year. See ya soon, ya turn coats, and that’s not a threat, that’s a promise!”