background preloader

EDL

Facebook Twitter

#EDL have been strangely quiet since finding out the ethnic g. English Defence League Leader Tommy Robinson Inadvertently Starts Comedy Twitter Hash Tag. An attempt to whip up anti-Islamic sentiment by the leader of the English Defence League spectacularly backfired on Twitter on Monday.

English Defence League Leader Tommy Robinson Inadvertently Starts Comedy Twitter Hash Tag

On Sunday night, EDL leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, tweeted a complaint about a picture of a "mosque" on the Twitter front page (it was actually the Taj Mahal), highlighting the image as another example of #creepingsharia. However, rather than stoke far-right feeling, the Luton-based activist unintentionally started a comedy twitter trend.

Amid traffic about the start of Anders Breivik’s trial in Oslo, the Twitterati hijacked the tag, with #creepingsharia being blamed for everything from “algebra on the curriculum” to “no ham left in the fridge”. The trend was encouraged by stand-up comedian Richard Coughlan, who posted a video on YouTube encouraging users to "f*ck with the EDL" by turning the hash tag to a comedy bent. You can watch Coughlan's video here (WARNING: Strong language throughout). English Defence League members attend New York mosque protest. EDL members at Ground Zero in New York.

English Defence League members attend New York mosque protest

Photograph: Diaper/Flickr Members of the far-right English Defence League protested in New York this weekend against plans for an Islamic cultural centre and mosque near Ground Zero. The group's leader, who goes by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson, and at least seven other EDL supporters flew to the US to oppose the plans on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Robinson was refused entry at JFK airport, taken into custody and flown straight back to the UK, according to a report published on the anti-Islam Gates of Vienna website sourced to EDL activists travelling with him.

The rest of the delegation joined far-right leaders including Geert Wilders, the Dutch leader of the Freedom party, at the demonstration in lower Manhattan. Over the past 18 months in town centres across England the group has protested against the spread of Islamic institutions and in support of the armed forces. English Defence League: Inside the violent world of Britain's new far right. The English Defence League is planning a series of demonstrations this summer.

English Defence League: Inside the violent world of Britain's new far right

Warning: video contains very strong language Link to video: The English Defence League uncovered MPs expressed concern tonight after it emerged that far-right activists are planning to step up their provocative street campaign by targeting some of the UK's highest-profile Muslim communities, raising fears of widespread unrest this summer. Undercover footage shot by the Guardian reveals the English Defence League, which has staged a number of violent protests in towns and cities across the country this year, is planning to "hit" Bradford and the London borough of Tower Hamlets as it intensifies its street protests. Senior figures in the coalition government were briefed on the threat posed by EDL marches this week. Tomorrow up to 2,000 EDL supporters are expected to descend on Newcastle for its latest protest. English Defence League: new wave of extremists plotting summer of unrest.

In the back room of a sparsely decorated pub in Bolton a man with a shaved head and a tattoo poking out above his shirt collar hands out what look like wraps of cocaine to his friends.

English Defence League: new wave of extremists plotting summer of unrest

It is just after 11am but behind him the pub is already packed with young, mainly white, men. Suddenly it erupts. "We want our country back. We want our country back … Muslim bombers off our streets. " The chants ring out as tables are thumped and plastic pint glasses are thrust into the air. "It is going to be a good 'un today," says the shaven-headed man, leaning across the table towards me to make himself heard. The pub, a few hundred yards from Bolton railway station, is the latest gathering point for the most significant rightwing street movement the UK has seen since the heyday of the National Front in the 1970s. The EDL plans to step up its campaign in coming weeks, culminating in marches through some of the UK's most high-profile Muslim communities, raising the spectre of widespread unrest.