If Brighton can protest peacefully so can the

[WeAreManyUArefew]

So called ‘protesters’ from the far right?

6 racists turned up to a immigration advice centre in Brighton, 2,000 peaceful counter protesters played instruments, sang, chanted ‘We are many you are few, we are Brighton who are you!’

There was no trouble, just a lot of people making a point.

So if we can do it, without racist language, violence, looting etc why can’t they? They were fine, a ring of normal police ( no riot gear needed) surrounded the bigots then removed them in a van.

YANBU - they are racist right wing thugs. It’s no real protesting.

YABU - they’re legit. And if they want to smash up the place then it’s because they’re provoked by ‘2 tier’ policing.

The counter protests are now being reported across the world. The peaceful ones.

I know which images I would rather people saw of my country… give you a clue, it’s not the pissed up, gammon-faced racists screaming a riot police and smashing in the windows of take-aways.

I haven't seen it reported anywhere that the rioters are protesters. I can't currently access Twitter so maybe it's because of that. We've had many peaceful protests, so I'm sure everyone is aware that it can be done without throwing bricks and trying to burn people alive.

I cried when I saw some of the footage last night. It gave me hope. I live near Brighton and when I heard there were protesters going there, I was very confident that a musical and joyful party was going to be the resistance Brightonians went for, and I was so pleased when that was the case.

I was less pleased to see a video of a man (in another part of the country) shouting ‘NAZI SCUM OFF OUR STREETS’ in someone’s face. Don’t get me wrong, I share and understand his anger, but meeting aggression with aggression is rarely a good strategy. The loudest/strongest person will win 🤷🏼‍♀️

Much better to ‘drive out darkness with light’.

They’re not protesting, they’re using this as an excuse to get all their toxic masculinity out. They aren’t campaigning for anything, they just whip themselves up into a lager fuelled rage because they think they are being shorted by the govt.

Nothing more dangerous than a white man with a chip on his shoulder.

Similar happened in Lancaster. Smaller scale, but the counter protest was much bigger than the ‘protest’. Racism won’t win.

I think everyone already knows rioters aren't reflective of whatever cause they are claiming to support.

But Brighton is one of the richest, most affluent cities and most expensive places to live in the UK - it has a very different demographics and community issues to say, Rotherham.

If you live in Brighton and your experience of UK cultural diversity is wandering down 'The lanes' and buying some fantastic gelato or pho; you're having a very different experience to many others in the UK.

counter protesters played instruments, sang, chanted ‘We are many you are few, we are Brighton who are you!’

They were also shouting 'Nazi scum off our streets!'. Which is exactly what the same group of counter protestors were shouting in the faces of women attending the Let Women Speak event in Brighton earlier this year, following and harassing them in the street to the point the women had to shelter in shops while waiting for police to escort them to safety. There was nothing peaceful about that.

I'm loving seeing all the pictures of the against rascim outnumbering the fugs. These look like naughty school boys waiting outside the head's office for a detention. Wonder if they were arrested.

.

I’m an honorary Brighton person - I have always had family there, and have lived and worked there in the past. I was there this last weekend in fact.

I was so proud of Brighton when I saw this!

I live in the LB Croydon. We have our issues. It's also the location of the Home Office processing centre, Lunar House. I don't blame people of colour for the problems in London, or anywhere else. Stop excusing racists thugs.

I am glad Brighton was peaceful. Wish that had been the case when Let Women Speak was held there - that was not peaceful at all.

Similar happened here in Southampton last night.

50 Far Right "protesters", over 400 opposing them. 2 arrests, zero damage caused.

I've seen footage and the 50 twats look a bit.......embarrassed

@WeAreManyUArefew
So if we can do it, without racist language,
Also You
gammon-faced racists

Let yourself down there.

But then would this be the same group that shouted abuse at women earlier in the year when the women had a non violent protest.

What about if you live in Croydon? Where you work, shop, go to school and spend your entire life mixing with people from all cultures?

Just because it wasn't a formal demonstration by a majority white middle-class demographic, that doesn't take away from the mix of people ready to make it clear that a bunch of racist twats would not be welcomed.

Last night the Argus were reporting one of the counter protesters had been arrested, along with a photo, which was pretty obviously a counter protester. However today they have amended it to ‘it was not clear’.

Also from the Argus today:

Half a dozen men were surrounded by Sussex Police last night after anti-immigration protesters set out to target a lawyer's office in Queens Road in Brighton.
The men were confined to a small space outside the BBC's office surrounded on all sides by activists, many wearing balaclavas or face coverings, who wanted to show they were not welcome.
Two of the five men separated from the crowd by Sussex Police have now said they were not protesters.
A man, who was wearing a white and green top, said he and his friend wearing a blue T-shirt "had nothing to do with any of the others standing by us".
He added: "The fact that police had surrounded us was because a group of black-hooded track-suited men with face masks kicked one of us. Which then escalated into the old school playground of ‘fight fight’.
"We were not arrested."

Very well put.

The reason why Brighton can do this when so many other places cannot is that on the whole, Brighton is an affluent, pleasant place to be, people who live there are educated and privileged and have access to a variety of cultural and enriching experiences.

To put it bluntly, they don't experience a lot of the issue that a lot of other places do - both in terms of the right wing extremism AND mass immigration into communities, which inevitably changes the culture and feel of a place, and can make people feel threatened if people aren't given the support they need to integrate into communities.

To compare Brighton with areas of socioeconomic disadvantage/ deprivation, riddled with issues and segregation - you are not comparing like for like.

Of course Brighton can do this - people there are perfectly set up to be able to have the resilience and emotional resources to respond to things in a healthy way - but also, the issues they are responding to in Brighton are not as bad as they are elsewhere.

of course all people who live in Brighton are well off.
you obviously don't know the place.

That’s why I have put ‘protestor’ in inverted commas.
I think they are racist, right wing twats.

so do I.
obviously the posters saying this, just visit the lanes and seafront.

Agree. Why is it that TRAs caused such a fuss in Brighton when Kelly Jay Kean and Let Women Speak came? That was not civilised in the least bit and the women, and their desire to speak for female only spaces, were drowned out. Possibly the demonstrators were not from Brighton?

But how can you save the lives of children if you don't burn down a library and loot a Shoezone?

I work in Brighton.
There is a significant hard left violent 'Antifa' type presence and they will turn out for any cause that clashes with their leftist identity politics.

That makes more sense. Thanks.