This is the truly shocking video of the actions of activists from the Far Right Britain First group.
We contacted one of the committee members of the Abu Bakr mosque in Bradford and the member mentioned the following:
Supporters and activists of the Britain First group came to the Abu Bakr mosque on Saturday the 10th of May at around 3 pm in 2 vehicles. Men and women in the group entered the mosque with their shoes on and they were asked to take their shoes off in the place of worship, yet they refused. Members of the mosque remained calm although some provocative and intimidating statements around ‘Pakistani Muslim grooming gangs’ were targeted at worshipers in the mosque at that time. Members of the Britain First group then added to the intimidating environment by freely roaming around the mosque and stating that they have members of the armed forces in their group. The Committee member also mentioned that they distributed inflammatory leaflets around grooming that were targeted at Pakistani Muslims, as though grooming was just an issue of this specific community.
What is also worrying is that the Committee member mentioned that the response from the local police to the incident was slow though the mosque is working with the Council for Mosques in Bradford so that the issue is escalated through to the right channels.
Statements in the Inflammatory Britain First Video
Statements in this video include comments from sympathisers suggesting that, ‘this is our country,‘ as though Britain is not the home for British Muslims who were the target of the actions of these Far Right sympathisers.
Threats of ‘suffering the consequences‘ are also made in this video, as is the inflammatory statement to a worshipper in one of the mosques to, “save you from hell and to reject the false Prophet Muhammad.”
Worryingly, the Mayor of Bradford is also targeted and activists of the Far Right group visit his home and as they stand outside his premises one states, “the Mayor of Bradford lives in a nice street, not in the Muslim areas of Bradford,” thereby implying that the Muslim areas of Bradford are defacto, not so nice.” Finally, the confrontational attitude of this group is very apparent when they visit another mosque in Bradford which was full of worshipers. The comment, “we don’t care if the mosque is packed,” shows a disregard for the safety and security of members of the congregation by this group. A panic or stampede in the mosque, or even a physical confrontation could have raised tensions levels to a high degree in the town. But what do Britain First care about that?
Community Advice
If you have been subjected to such actions or if you are worried about what to do, we suggest the following:
– Call 101 and log the incident with the police. You can also drop us a line at TELL MAMA so that we can assist in various ways.
– Do not confront this Far Right group. They are looking for confrontation and they will use that to further dupe other vulnerable young men into thinking that they are ‘defending’ their notions of Britain. Thankfully, the Britain that they purport to protect, is not the Britain that we see. The Britain we see is a place where everyone has the right to worship and follow any religion and to live their lives free from such fear and intimidation.
– Keep a log and diary of the situation so that it can be reported in. If the mosque has CCTV coverage scanning the inside of the mosque, please hand the film to the police as evidence and intelligence.
– Remain vigilant and do not confront anyone.
– This mosque safety leaflet that we have produced can also be useful.
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