Welsh Defence League protest could see more arrests, say cops
MORE arrests could follow in the wake of the weekend's rally by the Welsh Defence League (WDL) in Swansea, police have warned.
Hundreds of anti-fascist campaigners confronted the rally, and only a massive police presence kept the two sides apart.
-
Welsh Defence League protesters being led away from Castle Square, Swansea, by police.
Below: Video of the march
One arrest was made on the day — for a racially- aggravated public order offence — but now police have confirmed they are reviewing hours of CCTV and video footage taken during Saturday's disturbances to look for any further offences.
Chief Superintendent Mark Mathias said although he was pleased with the policing of the demos on the day, the operation was not over.
"Overall, the operation was a success," he said.
"We will be reviewing CCTV to see if there were further offences that can be identified."
Officers will be reviewing film taken of both the WDL and the anti-fascist protesters, and Mr Mathias said further arrests from either side were possible as a result.
Around 50 WDL members and supporters found themselves confronted by hundreds of protestors in Castle Square in the city centre, and an angry stand-off ensued. The WDL group were penned in by police outside Pizza Express on Castle Street, while the protestors were held at bay in the square itself.
Police managed to isolate two smaller contingents of pro-WDL marchers at either end of Castle Street and stop them joining the main body of the demo.
It is thought the numbers on the rally would have exceeded 100 had the three groups got together.
Supporters of the WDL — which only formed just over two months ago — have claimed that their efforts to hold a peaceful rally to highlight the dangers of extreme Islam were hijacked by neo-Nazis sympathisers.
It is understood that some of the people in the WDL ranks had travelled from as far as Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham to join the protest.
For more than an hour the two groups taunted each other as police held the line between them — chants of "fascist scum off our streets" were met by choruses of "Rule Britannia".
At around 5pm, police used powers under the Public Order Act to disperse both groups, and the WDL were escorted along High Street to the station.
Many of the supporters were put on trains out of the city, the rest were dispersed into smaller groups.
Demonstrations by the English Defence League in recent months have led to widespread disorder and violence, but those scenes were not repeated in Swansea.
However, Mr Mathias said he had been in touch with city centre businesses.
He said: "I have written to local businesses in order to apologise for the disruption, and to thank them for their tolerance."
Related articles:
18 Comments
View all
by Mrs Smith, Swansea
Wednesday, October 21 2009, 4:29PM
“From where I was standing the lefties were behaving very badly indeed - as usual.
I was FORCED to stand amongst the gentlemen of the day - outside Yates, where I felt safe.”
by eddie, uplands
Wednesday, October 21 2009, 6:16AM
“Nye - like a typical fascist bully you are using lies, false accusations, remarks taken completely out of context (minus the humour/irony), and all the usual nazi techniques to try and silence those who show you as an apologist of Islamic fascism. What you say means nothing sensible. You just show your true fascist bullyboy colours.
Pryce Jones - yet again you go off the subject in your meandering confused post. For your information, Israel in a country surrounded by Islamofascist states hell bent on destroying it and killing every jew in the world - so perhaps you should be empathising with their paranoia. Israel responded to 1500 rockets being fired by the palestinians into their land; Hammas are NAZIS and have the destruction of all jews in their constitution (which if translated into German would sound exactly likke the nazi manifesto of 1933). And yet you support them!!! You are just another misguided apologist for fascism - supporting nazis just because they are exotic and religious. Pathetic. And you can't even SPELL HITLER for god's sake!
You are being used and are too ignorant to see the reality of the situation. Why are you defending Islamic bigots in the UK? Why are you an apologist for Islamofascism which wants to kill jews and gays and oppress women? Perhaps you want to do the same eh god boy? Mmm. Bit of envy there perhaps? Fortunately we, the true liberals and keepers of the Enlightenment flame, have defeated the church and will continue to fight those (jew-hating Islamofascists) who want to surrender to religious oppression. You are an appeaser of and an apologist for modern-day fascism. Shame!
I enjoyed your very funny joke though:
YOU SAID: If you had any feeling of God you would not be able to Hate.
I SAY: Oh yeah, I forgot how peaceful religions have been these last 2000 years...
FOOL
As is Stephen G who said:
I really don't know how you can describe your views as liberal and Enlightenment based.
I say:
that is because you are ignorant and have been manipulated by a PC media and failed by a dumbed down education system. I believe in liberty, equlity, democracy, man made law, separation of religion and state, freedom of the individual, freedom of thought speech and expression, and telling religious people that they have no right to demand special treatment.
THEY are real values matey - not your kowtowing to anyone with a religion and a brown skin even if their views are esssentially fascistic and from the 7th century. Your values STINK!
YOU SAY:
Any Islamic extremist would chortle at reading your posts:
I SAY: no, they would threaten to slit my throat, as is their tradition for all atheists, apostates, infidels and critics of their Islamic death cult.
YOU SAY:
this sort of extremism is just what they would want in order to scare their own community. One extreme feeding off the other and justifying each other's existence.
I SAY:
You really have swallowed their lies haven't you? That is a TYPICAL lie used to try and silence all critics of Islam and the awful oppression muslims engage in. Essentially, you are saying I am an extremist (WRONG - I fight extremism) and that Islamic extremism is all the fault of those who dare to criticise Islam!!! That is the Mullahs' argument and it is a false one.
MUSLIMS are responsible for MUSLIM extremism - they oppress, spread hate, demand special treatment, refuse to integrate or accept western liberal values and law, and try and convince the world with their endless self-pity that they are perpetual victims of a zionist conspiracy (anti-semitism). And morons like you just parrot their lies! What a DHIMMI you are!
Fortunately, there are many of us who can see that Islam in its literalist, conservative, traditionalst form is just another form of fascism - it has fascist values, it hates liberal values. You are an appeaser of and an apologist for modern day nazi-ism - you and the other ignorant twerps on”
by christian, swansea
Tuesday, October 20 2009, 11:23PM
“HOW CAN YOU DEFEND EITHER ORGANISATION.
1. THE WDL DID HITLER SALUTES
2. THE UAF HATE THE JEWS.
THEREFORE BOTH ORGANISATIONS ARE FACIST
BIGGOTS.
NOW HERE IS ANOTHER 1 IF YOU IN THE WDL IS LINKED TO BNP WHICH IT IS PROVING TO BE MORE LIKELY EVERY DAY YOU ARE SCUM AS HOW DARE YOU TARNISH THE REPUTATION OF THE ARMED FORCES CALLING THE GENERALS ALIKE TO HITLER WAR CRIMINALS. ONLY A FEW MONTHS AGO YOUR LEADER SAID THAT THE GHURKAS DONT DESERVE TO LIVE IN THE UK.NOW THAT MY FACIST FRIENDS IS WRONG THESE MEN ARE ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTED FIGHTING MEN IN THE WORLD IDLIKE TO SEE SOME OF YOU CIVILIAN FACIST IDIOTS WIN A VICTORIA CROSS LIKE THESE LADS HAVE DONE.
DO NOT EVER BRING THE ARMED FORCES INTO YOUR AGUMENTS FACIST SCUM WE FIGHT FOR THE QUEEN AND ARE A FORCE FOR GOOD
3. UAF LOOKING AT SOME OF THE FOOTAGE ON YOUTUBE AND OTHER ASSETS THE UAF WAS CAUSING A LOT OF PROBLEMS FOR THE POLICE.
ALSO FOR THE UAF WHAT IF YOUR JEWISH AND GAY AS UNDER A MUSLIM SOCIETY ISNT BEING GAY NOT ALLOWED
SO THEN AGAIN IN ANOTHER FORM ISNT THAT FACISM ALSO YES YOU WERE INVOLVED WITH THE SS IN WORLD WAR 2 AS DEATH HEAD UNITS IN YUGOSLAVIA.
SO IM SORRY BOTH OF YOU ARE RACIST ORGANISATIONS AND SHOULD BE BANNED.
IN NORTHERN IRELAND WE ARRESTED YOU IF YOU WERE PART OF A BANNED ORGANISATION.
I AM A BRITISH SERVICEMAN AND I HATE RACISM OF ALL TYPES WE ARE HERE TO DEFND UK INTRESTS AND ALSO CORE VALUES AND ETHOS AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH. DO NOT DRAG US INTO RACIST FACIST AGENDAS.”
by Stephen G, Swansea
Tuesday, October 20 2009, 10:20PM
“Eddie
I really don't know how you can describe your views as liberal and Enlightenment based. Any Islamic extremist would chortle at reading your posts: this sort of extremism is just what they would want in order to scare their own community. One extreme feeding off the other and justifying each other's existence.”
by Nye_Zwerk, Flemland
Tuesday, October 20 2009, 7:41PM
“Julia, Swansea on 20-Oct-2009 18:31.
Anti WDL, Accepting Swansea's comment, that Medusa refers to (but doesn't quote in full and was on a different thread but, never mind), was "Neo-Nazis burning anti-Nazi banners won't be tolerated either. keep out of Wales. Mochyn Saesneg trying to stir up trouble".
It's directed at a specific group not all English people.
One of Eddie's gems from the past. (I've got loads of them.)
"****s Mum - It is SOOOO typical the way thick chavvy swansea scum identify themselves as mums! You know all that proves? That you had sex once. Probably in your case at age 13 with your father or brother. Wonder which one is ****'s dad.
Please get swine flu you worthless scumbags. You really are SICK.
I on the other hand work hard (you won;t know what work is you scrounging scum) and run my own business and make lots of money from it too. Have to be up early though. You won't know what that means either - you probably get up a 1pm stinking of sick and eat chips for breakfast. I know the type. I've just evicted scum like you. They commited suicide. GOOD. Some people do not deserve a life." eddie, uplands commented on 23-Jul-2009 13:57”
by m.pryce-joes, swansea
Tuesday, October 20 2009, 7:08PM
“Sorry. My post sould have read:- tells me and most post users that YOU have finally flipped.”
by m.pryce-jones, Swansea
Tuesday, October 20 2009, 6:54PM
“Eddie you'r last post tells me and most of the site users have finally flipped. People are not aloud to liken the Jewish suppression of Palestine to fascist ghettos. They are not allowed to critisize them at all. The U.N tiptoes on eggshells, You are not aloud to make any criticism at all.
The palestinians have their water stopped so the Israilies can water their crops. Food and medication is being held from them.
And As to democracies. Palestine is a democracy. Iran has a democracy of sorts. The bulk of them are sovereign states and are ruled by the Royall families.
You'r thoughts of bombing Iran.Well what else needs to be said!
You are beeing used. Can you not see the similarity to you'r thoughts on Islamofascists is not dissimilar to Hittlers views on the Jews.
Incidentally. We did not go to war because of the Jews. We went to war over Poland.
I know to you this will be another Islam lover. In fact I am a christian and have no beef over Islam. However I do ask myself "What would Christ do"?
If you had any feeling of God you would not be able to Hate.
If you are not on drugs you must be a very sick person!
Find peace!”
by Julia, Swansea
Tuesday, October 20 2009, 5:31PM
“What: no-one has anything to say about Anti WDL's racist post? Come on folks, surely you have something to say against such racist slander.
If this lout had said it against a Muslim there would be hell to pay. (Some) people in Swansea really do have double standards don't they?”
by eddie, uplands
Tuesday, October 20 2009, 4:30PM
“Exactly Slumdog. Jewhating is acceptable to the UAF and other extremist groups who turn a blind eye to the fact that Israel is a democratic country surrounded by Islamofascist states hell bent on destroying it and killing every jew in the world - THEY are the true descendents of Hitler (and Mein Kampf if a best seller in arabic in Muslim bookshops in the UK). Most people have no idea of the jew-hating West-hating intolerant Islamofascism which appears every day in the media in the Muslim world. And then of course these hypocrites blame the West whenever any Muslim decapitates an innocent or blows up a tube train! It is about time Pakistan took actiona nd I hope they kill every last Taliban; I also hope we bomb Iran so no Iranian muslim will ever get their hands on a nuclear weapon.
AJ - you and several others here are English-hating parachial Weslh bigots JUST as bad as any racist or nazi.
Shame really people no longer call themselves British - now THAT was inclusive. Now we have people calling themselves Welsh, English and Scottish and no, that is Not inclusive at all - as many here prove in the English hating tantrums.
By the way, southeast England is far less racist and bigoted than Wales, so all the peope smugly blaming the English for all extremism in Wales are living in a fool's paradise.”
by slumdog trust millionaire, margam
Tuesday, October 20 2009, 4:03PM
“I'd love to go and protest about muslim terrorist atrocities. lets face it our brothers in arms, the pakistani army are out there doing unto them as they would do unto us. how is it that I become a marxist/nazi extremist for my views?
the uaf are the followers and descendants of mengele and beria for me. stop your anti semitism now!”