UK anti-Islamic extremism protest turns violent

Sunday 06th September, 06:40 AM JST

LONDON —

A rally against Islamic extremism in the ethnically mixed English city of Birmingham turned violent Saturday as protesters clashing with counter-demonstrators. Police reported more than 30 arrests.

Clashes broke out when protesters from the English Defense League, a group which says it is opposed to militant Islam in Britain, were met in Birmingham’s downtown area by anti-fascist activists and counter-demonstrators.

Sky News television footage showed police confining members of the English Defense League inside pubs as counter demonstrators held up placards and shouted slogans nearby. The broadcaster said many of the protesters were loaded onto buses and then subsequently arrested.

It also showed footage of counter-demonstrators of south Asian descent throwing objects, running down streets and clashing with police. One clip showed passers-by screaming and running for cover as they overran a downtown street.

Police were able to quell what she called “pockets of disorder by several groups of 20 to 30 men,” West Midlands Police spokeswoman Det Chief Inspector Sue Southern said. About 200 people were involved in the clashes, she said in a statement.

Television footage showed lines of officers separating groups of shouting demonstrators. Sky said riot police from across the area had been mobilized in anticipation of violence.

Birmingham, a city of about 1 million where nearly a third of the population is nonwhite, had seen similar scenes last month when a demonstration by the English Defense League turned ugly. The group blames counter-demonstrators for inciting violence at its rallies. It has promised protest marches in other cities, including one next month in Manchester.

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Police video of the protest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?vXxzyjizp2JU

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12 Comments

Mayuki at 02:24 PM JST - 6th September

I will bet anybody my next paycheck that this unfortunate event will become increasingly common in England in the next two decades. The multicultural experiment is beginning to go very, very wrong in the UK.
seijichuudo9sha at 02:26 PM JST - 6th September

I'm glad I don't live in England.It's going to get ugly.
Helter_Skelter at 03:49 PM JST - 6th September

It's too late for England. Best they start preparing for Dhimmitude.
kirakira25 at 04:05 PM JST - 6th September

I wish with all my heart I could disagree with the comments made above - but I can`t. Things are going very, very wrong there.
Madverts at 06:15 PM JST - 6th September

"The multicultural experiment is beginning to go very, very wrong in the UK."

Too true.

Sadly, I think un-like the bone-head comments about "dhimmitude" that this could lead to a resurgence of good old hooliganism only with the wrong immigrants getting beaten up. Every time I go back to the UK people are becoming more openly racist...
karuchan at 06:45 PM JST - 6th September

Not only England,the whole Europe has the same problem. Anyway I'm not so pessimistic about it: people, and also politicians who fell in love with politically correct and relativism, is starting to wake up.
tclh at 09:11 PM JST - 6th September

"The multicultural experiment is beginning to go very, very wrong in the UK."..omg if this is true, Australia should prepare itself for exactly the same problem. The only better thing for Australia is that it has much more land for people to spread out.
SuperLib at 10:18 PM JST - 6th September

Good luck with that.
Helter_Skelter at 05:35 PM JST - 7th September

bone-head comments about "dhimmitude"

Madverts, knowing the demographics of Europe, knowing Islam will eventually become the dominant religion, knowing Sharia law and its intolerance of the unbeliever, knowing the plight of minority religions in Islamic countries like Sudan and Indonesia, why do you consider comments about Dhimmitude "bone-head"? Perhaps you can explain.
Madverts at 10:00 PM JST - 7th September

"knowing the demographics of Europe"

Heh, just that in itself is bone-head mate. Europeans are as likely to take to sharia law as they are full gender reasignment. But thanks for repeating what you read on some blog.
Helter_Skelter at 03:46 AM JST - 8th September

Heh, just that in itself is bone-head mate

TRANSLATION: I have no arguments so I'll just resort to insults.
saintyukio at 01:58 PM JST - 15th November

To all lovers of Japan and haters of Islam: I recommend the new book "The Year of the Green Snake: The Year of Serendipity" by Thomas Justin Kaze, available from Dorrance Publishers or Amazon.com. It deals with a solitary American English teacher in Osaka and his fight against the Islamization of Japan in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Yoroshiku.