cross-posted from: ibbit.at/post/73390

I feel like it’s important, you know? I work in radio and it’s shit like this that we don’t cover. We’re not allowed to. Did you know there’s 80 sharia law courts in the UK and we can’t do fuck all about them? I’d risking my job just being here.

Smiling at the group of women in pink surrounding us, the self-confessed manager of Smooth Radio confidently spoke to us all, bolstered by the murmurs of approval from the sea of around two hundred people around her. This was at a far-right protest in Newcastle recently.

She didn’t look like a typical fascist. Neat hair, expensive clothes, an air of confidence a lot of them lacked, but the smirk of confidence as she spewed her hatred was so familiar. It will never fail to shock me how people who seem so normal, can hide their twisted views so well behind a veneer of normality.

Standing behind enemy lines: infiltrating a far-right protest

“‘It’s not just the Muslims, it’s the Jews as well”.

“It’s a fucking invasion!”

“They’re waging a war on our kids!”

It has been ten years since I’d found myself on this side of a protest, ten years since I’d last ‘stood behind enemy lines’ and walked amongst the other side. And I am not going to lie, I hadn’t fucking missed it. At 12.30pm, the fascist crowd in Newcastle was still meagre, barely two hundred bodies milling around the law courts, a sea of flags and shit Knights Templar outfits somewhat hilariously outnumbered by the public just over the road, watching the boat race:

Image

Somewhere in the crowd, an older guy lit a joint, loudly bragging about how he hadn’t slept since the fash rally the weekend before in London. Going off of his red-rimmed eyes, I didn’t doubt it, as I listened to him confessing to anyone who would listen that he was out to “catch a leftie”, and make them pay for the kids they were “selling to the nonces”. The dozen police or so who milled around didn’t seem to care, watching him smoke as the speakers took their place around the stairs which stood to be the ‘stage’ for the pre-march warmup.

The infamous Nick Tenconi was en route, the UKIP leader was still one of the big crowd-clinchers, and one of his Christian acolytes took to the steps. I knew him, his name was Thomas, as he is a well known far-right agitator in Newcastle, a hate-preacher who hides his hatred behind a bible. With his tatty St George’s flag tied around his shoulders, he was greeted by screams of “whose streets?”

www.thecanary.co/wp-content/…/wren-five.mp4

Police stand idly by as fascists incite violence in Newcastle

His speech almost made my jaw hit the floor. Whipping the Newcastle crowd into a frenzy, he openly declared war on Muslims, the same old tired trope of young men coming covertly to our shores and fighting a silent war against Christianity. That in itself wasn’t a shock, but his tirade against Israel being in the same vein came out of left field and bowled me over, especially knowing Yaxley-Lennon’s affinity and funding past. But this was visceral. An actual call to violence, that day, against pretty much any denomination that wasn’t Christian. Surely the police were going to do something?

How wrong I was. It was as if the words coming out of his mouth didn’t register, as if the police didn’t care as he called for the crowd to “cleanse the streets of the Muslim filth”. In hindsight, I don’t know why I was so surprised, if one thing hadn’t changed in my ten year hiatus, it was the police’s utter contempt for the left as it became very clear.

I found out later, in a few moments in which I spoke to him, that this particular speaker had been stung by counter terrorism for the hatred he refused to stop spewing at demos.

Crackpot conspiracies and disinformation in abundance

Several more speakers passed, a manic woman decked out in a hilarious Temu-sourced Union Jack ensemble, screaming about protecting our kids, a younger man who fake cried halfway through his hate-speech, and a man with about six teeth dressed as some kind of knight. I nearly lost my shit laughing at every single one, not just at the ridiculous outfits, but at the sheer level of disinformation these individuals peddled to the crowd. Free benefits and mobile phones, wildly inaccurate statistics on crime rates, accusations of secretive organisations who controlled the government and child-services from the office of Keir Starmer. I mean, the man is a colossal dickhead, but even I struggled to see how people could believe this horseshit. Yet the crowd ate it up, hook, line and sinker.

Luckily, just when I thought I was going to have to walk away, the sea of shit flags parted and we were off. Following close to the back of the crowd, I had one last look over them all. The spectrum of people in the sea of shit flags and knock-off fag smoke was huge, ranging from a large group of older women, all sporting pink t-shirts emblazoned with “save our kids”, all the way down to young teens who were way too young to be at the event, let alone to understand the complexities of the messages being conveyed. And at the head of the march was the typical gang of burly, dentally-challenged men.

Image

Fascists march led by small men: a total failure

Hilariously, the Newcastle march was an absolute failure. At every single turn, at the end of every single street, we were met with the police running ahead in a desperate attempt to get between the antifascist side and the pathetic crowd I found myself in. I cannot begin to explain how proud I was as we turned that first corner and came face to face with thousands of people, dozens of placards, and the racist chants around me were drowned out by the cries of the left. I was less proud, however, as the tracksuit-clad knuckle-dragger next to me threw up a Nazi salute.

It was stunning. No matter where they turned, they were cut off as the police scrambled to hold the lines, instantly surrounding the tiny crowd from all sides. All around me they closed ranks, and the smell of stale fags, shit weed, and Lynx Africa nearly suffocated me as I pulled my mask closer to my face.

www.thecanary.co/wp-content/…/wren-seven.mp4

Far-right hopelessly outnumbered in Newcastle

“I thought they were at the monument, the dirty pedo bastards!”

“I’ll kick their fucking heads in”.

“Where is Tommy?”

That last one was hilarious, it seemed to ripple through the Newcastle crowd as it became more and more apparent that the right weren’t going to be able to finish their march. After being absolutely stationary for about twenty minutes, not moving an inch whatsoever, the first few people began to disappear as it dawned on them that not only were they hopelessly outnumbered, their precious Yaxley-Lennon was evidently a no-show.

As if realising this, it was at this point that the sea of cheap flags parted, and I caught my first glimpse of Tenconi, heralded by a bunch of large, bald men carrying crucifixes. I couldn’t help but laugh at the size of him… he was so small. And watching all of these fanatical far-right guys, just moments ago screaming about killing trans people, suddenly begin to fawn like school children, nearly did me in. They swamped him, desperate to shake the hand that a few weeks ago I had seen throw up such a casual Nazi salute at a rally.

Image

Repressive policing of antifascists as the fash throw Nazi salutes

I have to admit, Tenconi spoke to the Newcastle crowd like a pro. He knew exactly which fears to play on, which shady facts to whip up hatred, and where the education of the people around him had failed them, never once missing a step as he was led towards where I stood. I couldn’t help myself, I took a selfie with the moron, who had the cheek to ask me if I wanted one as he got close, and decided that was my time to leave. One disgusting trophy to mark my return after a long hiatus.

And I was becoming increasingly more aware of cameras around me.

Slipping out was easy, the police evidently didn’t give a shit about the pathetic crowd I left behind, although I wish I could say the same for the winning side. Within ten minutes of rejoining the antifascists, not only had I been shoved by an over-zealous male copper for no reason, they also let several fash get themselves into dangerous situations.

Newcastle

Far-right bigots not welcome on our streets – not least in Newcastle

I left that day smiling. The North East – particularly Newcastle – is a cold, impoverished place, and for years we have seen the far-right go from strength to strength, not least with the riots last year. Every lamp post near me is adorned with a flag, we have racist graffiti on every bus stop and transphobic stickers on every traffic light.

But for today, at least, Newcastle had spoken, the far-right’s march was a laughable testimony to the fact that the Toon stood firmly against their hatred, and were willing to turn out in their thousands to show they’re not welcome on our streets.

By Antifabot

From Canary via this RSS feed