Police made 13 arrests when a protest at the site of a recently-approved new mosque turned violent. Around 200 people were involved in the demonstration on St Mark's Road, which saw members of far-right groups including the English Defence League clashing with anti-fascists and members of the Muslim community.

Scores of police armed with batons were called in as the disorder escalated, and a firecracker in a glass bottle was seen being thrown at officers. Despite numerous objects hitting police officers and nearby homes, it is understood there were no injuries and no damage to property.

Two men both aged 32 have since been charged with being drunk and disorderly. They are both due to appear before Sunderland magistrates on October 26. Eight men arrested on suspicion of public order offences and another three arrested on suspicion of affray have been bailed pending further enquires.

The National Front has pledged to make the demonstrations a monthly fixture, although supporters were asked not the bring NF flags to the event on pain of being removed by far-right organisers who said they would create the wrong impression. A number of protesters among the far-right groups were not from Sunderland, with some travelling from Bradford and Edinburgh.

Plans to convert a former council transport depot into a new mosque were put forward in 2011 and approved by Sunderland City Council in August. The application by the Pakistan Islamic Centre attracted almost 700 letters of objection and a petition of more than 1,400 signatures.

Sky Tyne and Wear, 7 October 2012

See also "Sunderland antiracists stand firm against EDL, NEI, NF and BNP", UAF news report, 6 October 2012

View the Original article

Police who made 30 arrests at an English Defence League protest in the Midlands have insisted they are powerless to stop the far-right group returning.

As traders in Walsall tried to return to normal after Saturday's gathering, officers said their hands were tied in the eyes of the law. A West Midlands Police spokeswoman said: "Even if we get intelligence to suggest a future protest isn't going to be peaceful, the law states a static protest is a human right and needs to be facilitated. A march can be banned, but not a static protest."

The force said all those arrested for public order offences during the protest in Lichfield Street had been bailed. Items including chairs, bricks and bottles were hurled by demonstrators who tried to storm through a line of police officers who battled to contain EDL supporters.

Only five per cent of stalls at Walsall Market opened on the day and several pubs were closed.

Andy Summers, of the inclusive We Are Walsall group, which staged a counter-demonstration on Saturday, said: "The question must be whether any further request to protest in our streets by this discredited organisation should ever be allowed by Walsall Council."

Birmingham Mail, 2 October 2012

The legal position is that Walsall Council have no more power than the police to impose an outright ban on a static protest, and neither does the Home Secretary. However, the police do have powers under Section 14 of the Public Order Act to impose conditions on a static protest.

If the police believe that a public assembly might result in "serious public disorder, serious damage to property or serious disruption to the life of the community" or if the aim of the assembly is to intimidate others, then they have the power to "give directions imposing on the persons organising or taking part in the assembly such conditions as to the place at which the assembly may be (or continue to be) held, its maximum duration, or the maximum number of persons who may constitute it".

So the EDL has no automatic right to hold a static protest right in the centre of Walsall. West Midlands Police have the power under Section 14 to instruct the EDL to hold their demonstration somewhere well away from the town centre where they can't cause the kind of disruption and violence that they did on Saturday.

View the Original article

Police clashed with members of the English Defence League during protests in Walsall town centre today.

During speeches given by leaders of the EDL, the crowd surged towards police lines on Leicester Street. Officers with riot gear used batons and shields to hold back the demonstrators. Scores of missiles – including bricks, bottles and litter bins – were hurled at police.

At 3pm officers cleared Lichfield Street with a shields charge as members of the EDL were herded on to buses to transport them away from the town centre.

West Midlands Police said they have no power to ban a static protest and the right to protest peacefully was a sign of a healthy democracy.

Birmingham Mail, 29 September 2012

See also "28 arrested following EDL demonstration in Walsall", ITV News, 29 September 2012

And "EDL's Walsall flop is another nail in its coffin", UAF news report, 29 September 2012

View the Original article

'The biggest street movement in history'? The ever-shrinking EDL assembles in Bristol

A controversial English Defence League (EDL) demonstration and a major opposition rally have been praised for passing peacefully despite 11 arrests.

Up to 300 far right campaigners marched through Bristol in protest at what it claims is the "islamification" of the city.

Avon and Somerset Police drafted in extra officers from as far afield as Yorkshire to swell the ranks of the riot control force to 1,000.

Isolated clashes took place between the police and EDL protesters as the rally wound down and supporters left the city. Missiles were thrown at one point and burning paper tossed into wheelie bins in a failed attempt to start a blaze.

Earlier, demonstrators walked through rain swept streets to Queen Square where EDL leaders made speeches to their supporters while at the same time up to 500 anti-EDL protesters with the We Are Bristol campaign marched in the city in an counter-demonstration.

Press Association, 14 July 2012

"Up to 300" demonstrators? Rather fewer than the "thousands" Pamela Geller was anticipating.

View the Original article

Three people were arrested as far right-groups were accused by police of using diversionary tactics to promote their message. The British National Party organised simultaneous protests in Rochdale and Heywood, Greater Manchester, over a child sex grooming case.

Police said around 10 BNP supporters held a peaceful demonstration in Heywood town centre at around 5pm on Wednesday. But at the same time approximately 40 far-right protesters from groups including the Infidels of Britain and the National Front tried to force their way into a council function at Rochdale town hall. Police took "swift action" to stop the demonstrators from disrupting the gathering.

Two men were arrested for a breach of the peace and another for a racially-aggravated public order offence.

Press Association, 17 May 2012

Picture: Far right protest outside Rochdale town hall.

View the Original article