Woolwich Tragedy - The EDL Rear Their Ugly Head

Lee Rigby

Today, on this Bank Holiday Monday, many decent people went out to pay tribute to the fallen soldier Lee Rigby who was savagely murdered last week in Woolwich - for others, an opportunity to use his death as a means of street violence and fascism. Yes, I'm talking about the infamous 'street protest movement' English Defence League (EDL) headed by half-wit Tommy Robinson (aka. Stephen Lennon). Approximately 1000 EDL members marched through London in a pathetic attempt to gain publicity for their right-wing agenda and stir up racial tension between the two communities.

I'm just going to start off by saying I think it's disgusting how this fascist and frankly racist thug group would use the devastating death of a young soldier to further their support and publicity. Today was a day for people to pay their respects, mourn Lee Rigby's death and offer support for his family and other families involved in the Help for Heroes charity so what do the EDL do? Take to the streets with their childish placards and their unimaginative chants of 'E-E-EDL' causing a massive police operation to keep order and control. Really well done guys (!)

Tommy Robinson

So let's just look at the wonderful chap Tommy Robinson who represents and sets an example for all the other members of the EDL. Robinson reportedly served a 12-month custodial sentence in 2005 for assaulting an off-duty police officer who was intervening in a domestic incident between Robinson and his wife - classy guy. He was then convicted in 2011 for 'threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour' and banned from all football matches for 3 years after being involved in a 100-man brawl... again I couldn't think of anyone better to lead the English Defence League. Fast-forward a couple of months and he was arrested for breaching his bail and, being the political activist he is, started a hunger strike believing the prison meat to be halal (it surprisingly only lasted a day). Anyway, last but by no means least, he was arrested again in 2011 for common assault after headbutting a fellow EDL member (you can't make this stuff up) at a protest in Blackburn, which just to add is unfortunately the town I live in.

The EDL protesting today

So the EDL wish to be taken seriously by the government as a type of pressure group and who better than to lead them to this goal? A deluded, petty criminal who reckons himself to be a hard-man football hooligan/political activist who's been selected as the chosen one to take back England from the ghastly 'Muslim infidels' ... what an absolute t*t.

Back to the protest, and with these things it goes without saying that they end in some form of violence. The EDL and UAF (Unite Against Fascism) threw glass bottles at each other and the police, protesters were heard shouting anti-Muslim chants including 'who the f**k is Allah', some threatened a man wearing a Palestinian scrarf with a stick and a total of 19 were arrested with 12 charged. Two war memorials were also defaced with the word 'Islam' (although it is not clear which party was responsible).

A young girl pays tribute to the fallen soldier

It does amaze me however how Tommy Robinson had the cheek beforehand to say 'this is a day of respect for our armed forces'. No Tommy, it really wasn't. If you wanted to respect the armed forces then you would've gone to Lee Rigby's memorial and laid flowers down like all the other decent people, and not took to the street to cause chaos and violence. No matter how much the EDL try to dress it up, no matter what cause they stand for, they are racist and fascist in my opinion. You only have to look at what some of their members are saying on Facebook and Twitter to see where I am coming from. For example one member - Adam Rodgers - encouraged other members to burn down a local mosque... it's truly  disgusting. They aren't even wanted by the people they were supposedly paying their respects to today! Help for Heroes actually cancelled a march because it was believed the EDL were trying to take part so what sort of message is that sending out because it's not exactly painting them in a positive light?

It's time the EDL realised that the majority of this country that they so wish to defend do not want them and condone everything they stand for. Today was not about Tommy Robinson or the EDL, it was about a good decent man who served his country and (I'd guess) would not want his name to be used as an excuse for ignorant racism. Lee Rigby had done more to defend this country than Tommy Robinson has ever done and the sooner he and the EDL disappear, the better.

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The Woolwich Tragedy Is No Excuse For Racism

Lee Rigby

I doubt many people living in England right now are unaware of the sadistic and barbaric attack which took place yesterday in Woolwich, London. For those who don't (and without going into too much detail as it was truly horrific) a man identified as 25 year old Lee Rigby was brutally murdered by two Islamic extremists in what is understood to be a terrorist attack - the first since the July 2005 bombings. What those two men did is utterly disturbing and horrendous and my thoughts go out to Mr. Rigby's relatives in such a sad time.

However, as you may have guessed from the title, this post doesn't focus solely on this appalling attack but also the reaction of the British people following the news, including some of the most racist and bigoted comments I have ever come across. With tensions already high with regards to immigration and our membership in the European Union, this event seemed to be the spark that set off an endless tirade of hate and xenophobia, so I wish to address the first elephant in the room - the attackers are Muslim. Yes, they are... but so are two million other people living peacefully in Britain at the minute, so are they all the same? No.

The Two Attackers

It's cliche to use the phrase 'don't tar them all with the same brush' but there is no other appropriate phrase that springs to mind. I don't wish to insult anyone but in my opinion it shows a limited degree of intelligence and twice the amount of ignorance to assume that two million people who follow an identical faith behave in the same way as these two animals. If we could just take a step back from all the hype and hysteria to think about what we're saying about other human beings then I hope, for the sake of humanity, that we can understand that it is wrong.

I shall share this story with you. Two weeks ago, a 75 year old Pakistani man was murdered with a machete in Birmingham by a white man, which was understood to be a racially motivated attack. Now, are all white people racist based on the actions of this man? No? So why are people quite happy to make the same generalisations against British Muslims? If you want someone to vent your hate and disgust at then look no further than the two monsters who took away the father of a two year old child for no reason whatsoever.

Racism seen on my Facebook

What I also find repulsive is how people like the BNP (British National Party) leader Nick Griffin used this tragedy to fuel their bigoted agenda to gain more support and votes. Griffin took to Twitter stating that this attack was due to mass immigration - obviously ignorant to the fact that the attacker Michael Adebolajo was born in London. He then went on to say that he'd be happy to go back onto BBC Question Time which, to me, implied that he would use the death of an innocent solider to spout his racist rubbish in a bid to win votes. Moreover, the EDL (English Defence League) took the opportunity to 'protest' in the streets which ended in the destruction of a mosque and random Asian bystanders being attacked.
There's enough here for you to read as it is without me adding another 5 paragraphs about my feelings towards the BNP and EDL so I shall just say that I condemn their reactions and everything they stand for.

What happened yesterday has shook our country. It's heartbreaking to have a young, brave serviceman murdered in a place where he was supposed to feel save. But we MUST stand together and show extremists that we - black, white or asian - will never succumb to their terror and brutality. Stand united and we are strong, stand divided and we will lose.

I leave you with a quote:
"When there are no enemies within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you" - Winston Churchill.

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