WTAF - Far right protests

[Poppi89]

I have just heard on the radio that far-right protesters will be out tomorrow in response to the BLM protesters. People are being urged not to be out in support of BLM tomorrow due to the aggressive nature of the far-right group and BLM protests are being cancelled because of them.

I am outraged by this. The BLM protesters are asking for people to not be killed due to the colour of their skin. They have rightly or wrongly made a decision to put themselves at risk of COVID-19 to help spread this message - a lot of people have called them idiots etc for doing this.

The far-right protests are now also protesting in large groups (but not in response to a murder) and are 'known' for being aggressive. How is this acceptable?

I would like to hear from anyone who is planning to join/agree with these far-right protests and their reasons why?

Not the best at defending and respecting memorials it seems..

'I’ve come across some ridiculous things on my time on mumsnet, but this genuinely made me laugh out loud. If the police had shut down a legitimate protest organised by Black Lives Matter last weekend, the poor angry white menz wouldn’t have used this weekend as an excuse to run riot??'

'Laughed out loud'?!

I didn't say this but I'll respond. If the police had stopped the vandalism and graffiti on monuments then yes people wouldn't feel the need to protest.

It is the same situation, both 'sides' had legitimate complaints, spoilt by arseholes that aren't the majority.

Mumsnet has always been full of racists. I'm a long time poster and I've seen the levels of intolerance and racism increase over the years. But the comments on this thread from loud and proud fascists is shocking.

There are no veterans there today, they are fascists. And if you support that you're racist, even if you are a veteran. Being a war veteran is not a free pass to act racist.

The Telegraph’s Ed Clowes Twitter feed

twitter.com/EdClowes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1271780011725467648&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2Flive%2F2020%2Fjun%2F13%2Fuk-news-live-patel-warns-of-health-and-legal-risks-at-blm-protests-coronavirus

From that feed ^

‘ “You’re antifa!” shouts one protestor at the police.

“This is what antifa looks like. She’s antifa!” he says, pointing at one police officer.

“And she looks really nervous.”

@Powergower

Mumsnet has always been full of racists. I'm a long time poster and I've seen the levels of intolerance and racism increase over the years. But the comments on this thread from loud and proud fascists is shocking.

There are no veterans there today, they are fascists. And if you support that you're racist, even if you are a veteran. Being a war veteran is not a free pass to act racist.

Same. A few names changes, but here for a while, and the racists have definitely been in the rise. Disgusting.

Hundreds of mostly white men hopped on a train to fight police, Nazi salutes, chant racist songs and piss on the memorials... if this is the response to a protest for basic human rights then wow Britain

@Mittens030869, I wouldn't be at all surprised if a fair few of them had been banned from football matches and therefore been forced to find another way of expressing their aggression.

And why do so many of them feel compelled to take their shirts off? I don't think I've ever seen so many naked beer guts in one place.

I think there were some ex servicemen there very early on who aren’t affiliated with any of the far right groups and who genuinely felt that they were protecting the Cenotaph against a threat. I can’t speak as to their politics but I think they were caught by the bullshit being pedalled by the far right groups saying that BLM were going to attack the Churchill statue and the Cenotaph. They left early. What’s left is what you’d expect.

This from a BBC journalist

twitter.com/VinnieoDowd/status/1271809857507770376

I think Maajid sums the situation up very well.

@africansassenach

Hundreds of mostly white men hopped on a train to fight police, Nazi salutes, chant racist songs and piss on the memorials... if this is the response to a protest for basic human rights then wow Britain

Exactly this. Tommy Robinson didn’t put the call out for this action to protect the monuments, he did so to cause havoc. They aren’t protesting anything - if they were, they would have gone home like the veterans or not bothered at all when they saw that they were boxed up. They’ve come for trouble and trouble was their main motive.

It seems that neither “side” has covered themselves in glory here.

The polarisation here is quite astonishing.

There seems to be a sense that wanting to defend monuments from unlawful vandalism means that you are a racist.

It also seems to me that some seek to de-legitimise the very real grievances that Black people have in this and other societies because a minority of nutters want to vandalise them.

But then I suppose the silent majority (both black and white) who support true equality and rebalancing of society and who do not support violence and vandalism aren’t there today...

There should be no one protesting however if BLM were prevented then those issuing that instruction would be seen as proof of racism so it was allowed to happen. The early protests were amazing, peaceful made their point went home. As the days past these grew and an element just wanting trouble started attending to under the guise of supporting those who peacefully continued to make their voices heard.

This element grew and as they did, as the day wore on and most of the families has left. This was the group that started becoming more aggressive and got progressively worse with each additional demo until last week. The officers policing last week wore regular uniform until they were attacked only then did the officers in riot gear appear and only then did the mounted branch try to push them back. There were people from the BLM protest trying to help police, contrary to popular belief aside from venting both sides were mainly good natured towards one another.

It was the group that infiltrated that caused damage, these individuals were a mix of white and people of colour. How do I know all this I saw it first hand. The police are supposed to be impartial which means when describing groups with opposing views demonstrating it is always protest and counter protests.

The BLM message needs to be heard, things needs to change. Right now I think that people, without realising, are undoing the good work that started because they seem to ignore some basic truths

1. They have been infiltrated by a core who want trouble and firmly believe change comes with violence.

1. This same group are the people that main stream media are beaming into every news channel and newspaper showing that the cause is just a bunch of people who want to destroy and harm.

3. now is the time to change tactics, start making changes so that we have long term changes. Change in education showing the truth of the past, warts and all. Change in processes that have in the past caused discrimination. Changes in procedures for dealing with those in a position of trust/authority abusing others without fear.

Unfortunately I can see this won’t happen anytime soon and we will likely see the good work undone unless people listen

’There seems to be a sense that wanting to defend monuments from unlawful vandalism means that you are a racist.‘

Have you seen the people who are ‘defending’ monuments today?

Could we possibly stop the slightly infantile 'white menz' stuff please? Very many of us support BLM and thing the right-wing protesters are total fucking cretins.

I, and many others of us, share nothing in common with these cunts except a shared Y chromosome. Many of us have worked and protested hard to combat them and their abhorrent views and lumping us in together is offensive.

tl; dr - NAMALT. I think it's justified on this occasion.

Happy to say that while the knuckle-draggers were throwing things at the police in London, BLM is enjoying a great deal of socially-distant support in other parts of the country like this in Brighton.

Have you seen the people who are ‘defending’ monuments today?

Quite. There's footage on FB of a bunch of them stood near the Cenotaph giving Nazi salutes. Vile and thick as pigshit.

They are useful in a way because they lay bare the fact that racism is still very much alive in this country. It makes it harder for those racists with double-digit IQs to hide behind innuendo and double-speak.

Unfortunately the BLM movement has been hijacked by thugs and undermined by every man and his dog with a grievance. Just look at Twitter link below. What has anti vax and anti 5G got to do with any of this?

I do not support either side breaking the law. BLM started it - many getting closer than social distancing allows and then a minority breaking public property in a criminal way we will not stand in this nation. There is no way the majority of people in the UK will tolerate statues like Churchill's being removed or Nelson Mandela and many others. They are our history. We have not dismantled the Roman Wall any more than it has fallen down in the NE where I am from even though those Romans took over our nation. It stands to remind us of how far they got North in this country in their day. We should not be trying to remove history.

Anyway the various extremists on all sides if they do not distance may well get covid 19 so they are both very silly on both sides to get into those large crowds but perhaps BLM and today's demonstrators protecting statues prefer the herd immunity route and think the legislation about social distancing can just be ignored.

None of it is acceptable in a pandemic full stop .

BLM started it - many getting closer than social distancing allows and then a minority breaking public property in a criminal way we will not stand in this nation.

I think you'll find the US and UK's institutionally-racist police forces started it.

The far right thugs have caused far more trouble than the BLM protesters, who mainly protested peacefully for a very real cause, wearing face masks and attempting to social distance. They also scaled down protests to avoid trouble.

It's clear which group is really out of order here.

These ARE far right protestors.
These are fascists out demonstrating across the the UK today: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53031072

Shame on them. They are there to stop anti-racist protest, that’s what they’re there for.

Like many other white people I would want to join a BLM protest today (masked, at a safe distance). I’m not going for fear of violence.

I am disturbed that fascist thugs can stop the rest of us registering our right to protest by scaring us off the streets.
I can’t even fucking begin to imagine the pain and rage their deliberate intimidation will be causing all the POC who would otherwise be out protesting in solidarity together and with other anti-racists. It’s shameful.

Has anyone noticed that in the press and on social media all protesters are far left or far right

“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped.

You are all falling for it, so easily.