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Death Knell for the EDL?

Jo Makepeace | 01.09.2012 21:37 | Anti-racism

Brighton hinted at it, Bristol seemed to continue the pattern but today's misguided outing to the London borough of Walthamstow showed the extent to which the English Defence League is now in a steep downward spiral.

Full article + links at

http://www.schnews.org.uk/stories/DEATH-KNELL-FOR-THE-EDL/

This was intended to be a re-run of Tower Hamlets – a mission into darkest Muslamic country to liberate a corner of England. In the event around only two hundred fash made the trip down – to be confronted by a multi-racial crowd of over two thousand.

After getting pissed up and fighting amongst themselves at King's Cross station the EDL gathered at Blackhorse Rd tube station. They were then marched in a mobile kettle along Forest Rd, the initial stage of their intended route to the Town Hall. The UAF were behind police lines occupying half of Forest Rd. Autonomous anti-fascists waited just down from the crossroads. The EDL approached at a snail's pace entirely surrounded by cops.

As soon as the hapless leaguers came in sight the Anti-Fascist Network's banner was unveiled – triggering scuffles with the police and a couple of arrests. The cops soon realised that if a handful of anti-fascists were going to cause that much bother then getting the EDL past the UAF demo was going to be more trouble than it was it worth. The answer was to divert the EDL down the side-streets and try to smuggle them to their rally point.

SMASH GAZEBO

Meanwhile, realising that the EDL march had been blocked anti-fascists started breaking away in small groups getting round police lines to the rally point. Soon hundreds had gathered in front of a gazebo decorated with England flags and staffed by the EDL's top boys. Unfortunately for them their minions were being held up by police a few streets away leaving Tommy Robinson and Kev Carroll to have a rally behind police lines that barely got into double figures. After they were bombarded with eggs and bottle and repeated anti-fascist crowd surges the EDL's police liaison officers told them to leave the area. Rumours that Kev and Tommy later indulged in a bit of sulky mutual recrimination and even handbags at dawn have so far been confined to the socialist press.

Eventually the EDL were marched back, remarkably silent for this once vocal organisation. Locals came out to give them some abuse to send them on their way. One anti-fascist told SchNEWS “They recruited no-one, didn't seem to have a point to their demo and basically looked like thuggish idiots. They're not even frightening anymore”.

Jo Makepeace
e-mail: mail@schnews.org.uk
Homepage: www.schnews.org.uk

Additions

@abc

02.09.2012 23:26

by what we've seen here I don't think so!

Dezzi

Comments

Hide the following 12 comments

Massive Fail

01.09.2012 22:04

...as they would say. Top job all concerned, and a nice little write up.

Where next for the pseudo-fash?

Casual

Good

01.09.2012 22:55

One of the good things is that the EDL got twatted, even better their publicity stunt didn't even make the local TV news in London, so the EDL grunts got the experience of being massively outnumbered in London, while the leadership were mostly ignored by mainstream mass-media

Shay

sorry to disappoint

01.09.2012 23:52

Sorry to disappoint, but there will always be dickheads. They will change form and come back again. They will inevitably be squashed by common sense again.

Just remember though that they keep the rest of us on our toes and remind us what is stupid and wrong.

KermitTheFrog

Leagues apart?

02.09.2012 12:46

Interesting that the music on the official video for the EDL is by the anti nowhere league.
Which means that the edl either used it unofficially and the band can sue them, or they got permission.

Kermit

PHOTOS OF MUNTERS

02.09.2012 20:53

EDL on the way back from the... nit-nurse

The irony is that if anyone's secretly funding the EDL, you have to conclude it must be Al-Qaeda or the Iranian regime, because the EDL have done so much to make opponents of Islamic extremism to look like a bunch of thick, ugly, ignorant, drunken hooligan twats

The EDL have done far more damage to the cause of anti-Islamism than good

https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2012/09/499464.html?c=on#comments

Barber

Behold thee masterace! (seen in walthamstow!)

02.09.2012 22:28

no caption needed

"it's too late, I've done it now"

. . .

click^click

EDL IN NAZI SHIRT AT WALTHAMSTOW

02.09.2012 22:55

EDL German Tank Division in Walthamstow

Panzers were the tanks Nazis used to kill Britons during WW2

http://www.demotix.com/news/1419204/english-defence-league-march-disrupted-local-residents#slide-13

Grace

Only 15 EDL Make it to Walthamstow Rally Point and One Pisses Himself

02.09.2012 23:34

no joke

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUKbf6YIwNM&feature=youtu.be

waterworks

'Walthamstow, Where Fascists Go to Die'

03.09.2012 09:32

Good report pics/vids at vice.com

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/edl-in-walthamstow-english-defence-league

reader

grand!

03.09.2012 10:15

'Rumours that Kev and Tommy later indulged in a bit of sulky mutual recrimination and even handbags at dawn have so far been confined to the socialist press. '
pray tell!

more here

http://malatesta32.wordpress.com/

'Malatesta'
Homepage: http://malatesta32.wordpress.com/

strategy

03.09.2012 10:34

'One of the good things is that the EDL got twatted, even better their publicity stunt didn't even make the local TV news in London, so the EDL grunts got the experience of being massively outnumbered in London, while the leadership were mostly ignored by mainstream mass-media.'

the various combination of militant anti-fascism, massive community response (esp from the mosques!) and either non-existent or negative coverage will defeat fascism. the edl have still not got the fact that assaulting NUJ = bad or no publicity. fuckbugles!