Live in London. And much of the city kept under check between yesterday and today by right-wing extremists who have staged a demonstration of the anti-Islamic far-right in the heart of the multi-ethnic city. The dreaded gathering group English Defence League (EDL) in the East of the capital has resulted in clashes with the police and around 60 arrests, but has not repeated the urban warfare scenario of a few weeks ago. As stated by the leadership of the EDL to Scotland Yard, the Group was planning a static demonstration and a sit-in to protest against the recent decision of the Minister of the Interior, Theresa May prohibit any demonstration in six areas of the capital, considered high risk.
Despite the ban, a thousand people came during the morning of Saturday armed with placards that read "this is not the Inghilterristan" and "England: love it or leave it". Police escorted the group more nourished from King's Cross station until the beginning of multi-ethnic district of Tower Hamlets, where he was a massive roadblock with agents and media.
The tension was palpable but initially under control. Shaved heads, flags, hockey masks with colors cheers, songs and English romani – a theatre that England has come to know well in recent years. The leader of the EDL, Stephen John Lennon, which was presented in disguise with fake beard, hat and dark glasses to avoid being recognized, he then took the floor, telling the crowd of violating its restrictive permission to attend the event – received a sentence for hooliganism. "Violerò any ban, today and in the future, to have the opportunity to demonstrate together with you," he shouted.
After the short speech by Lennon broke the first scuffles with the police, who occupied the area since the early morning hours – over 3000 men, scattered throughout the neighborhood and the surrounding areas. The situation was "extremely tense" and are not missed episodes of violence and unrest, but did not reach the intensity of other EDL events. If you do the damage, as Luton, Birmingham, Nottingham had a fate definitely worse in such occasions.
The scuffles continued intermittently throughout the day yesterday. Between Saturday and Sunday, there are around 60 arrests carried out by the police. The main accusations: resistance to law enforcement, violence, possession of weapons.
One of the moments of greatest tension occurred when a coach of the EDL has been "intercepted" and attacked by a group of young Asians in Whitechapel Road, not far from the East London Mosque. The vehicle, carrying 44 members of the EDL, was returning from a parallel protest in Aldgate. Passing close to one of the largest mosques of the city, some of the protesters went looking for the clash with groups of immigrants. The bus is then broken down, to stop only a few meters after due to a fault. It is at that moment that a hundred Asian youths surrounded the bersagliandolo with stones, pebbles and improvised rockets.
"We intervened promptly," commented the police, who has uploaded the 44 EDL on another bus to guard them away – and then stop. "It was necessary to get the protesters quickly from the area to avoid things they worsened." Police in riot structure, had a lot to be done to hold off the more than 1500 demonstrators anti-fascist groups organized under the theme United Against Fascism.
"The strategy was to prevent the EDL to spread to the streets, but was no less important to avoid any contact with other groups," said a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police. "Police men were human barrier between the two sides." The meeting of Tower Hamlets – one of the most multi-ethnic of London – had been planned for some time, attracting the ire of the local population and community groups, who had repeatedly asked to forbid it. Following the massacre of Oslo and investigations – still underway – on possible links between the killer and the extreme right British Home Office has banned the March. After the riots of the past few weeks, it was imperative to maintain order in the city. The urban warfare scenario of the riots has not yet occurred, and London can now breathe a sigh of relief.
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