Category Archives: The far right

Port of Dover is brought to a standstill by far-right groups

Posted on by

Flag-waving extremists and white nationalists block roads in protest over migrant Channel crossings

Just after 1pm, below the white cliffs of Dover, Nigel Marcham offered his take on one of the summer’s most potent symbols. “Take a knee for the brethren of this fucking country,” Marcham screamed into his megaphone.

Around him a ragtag collection of far-right supporters, white nationalists and neo-nazis knelt on the A20 outside Dover’s Eastern Docks. “Thanks for taking a fucking knee in the proper way,” he said, clearly delighted with his perversion of the global peaceful protest symbol adopted by millions following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Continue reading...

Berlin minister ‘deeply regretful’ over far-right Reichstag standoff

Posted on by

Andreas Geisel condemns ‘shameful’ scenes at rally against Covid restrictions

Berlin’s interior minister has expressed regret over a standoff outside the Reichstag building on Saturday during a rally against coronavirus restrictions.

Speaking to a committee of the city state’s interior ministry on Monday, Andreas Geisel said he was “deeply regretful” about the images from the protest, which were seen around the world.

Continue reading...

German coronavirus protesters attempt to storm Reichstag – video

Posted on by

Demonstrators against Covid-19 restrictions in Germany have been denounced by politicians after an attempt to storm the country’s parliament building. Some of the protestors carried the former imperial flag, which was used up until the end of the first world war, during the rally on Saturday.

Police said about 38,000 people, double the number expected, had gathered in Berlin to protest against restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus, such as the wearing of masks and social distancing. About 300 were arrested after scuffles with police in front of the building.

‘Flags from the Reich and far-right profanity in front of the German parliament are an unacceptable attack on the heart of our democracy,’ the German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said. ‘We will never accept this’

Continue reading...

Portland mayor Ted Wheeler to Trump: ‘Stay the hell out of the way’ – video

Posted on by

The mayor of Portland, Ted Wheeler, launched a searing attack against Donald Trump on Sunday, saying the US president is inciting violence in his city. 'It's you [Trump] who have created the hate and division,' Wheeler said. Trump responded to the comments with a series of counterattacks on Twitter

• Fatal shooting in Portland as Trump supporters confront BLM protesters


Continue reading...

German leaders hit out at protesters’ attempt to storm Reichstag

Posted on by

President condemns ‘attack on heart of our democracy’ during protest against Covid restrictions

German leaders have condemned the “unacceptable” attempt by protesters to storm the Reichstag building during a mass rally against coronavirus restrictions.

Some of the protesters on Saturday carried the former imperial flag, which was used up until the end of the first world war.

Continue reading...

Riots rock Malmö after far-right Swedish activists burn Qur’an

Posted on by

Leading imam condemns violence after police battle more than 300 on streets of the city

The disorderly phalanx of young men and teenagers, many wearing face masks and hooded tops, started to accelerate, excitement rising, as it neared the row of police vans blocking off the troubled district of Rosengård in Malmö.

“We’re gonna fuck this system up because they want to let a man burn the Qur’an,” one of them yelled, as the group starts hurling jagged chunks of concrete paving towards the armoured riot police sheltering behind the vans. “And we’re gonna fuck the police.”

Continue reading...

‘Anti-corona’ extremists try to storm German parliament

Posted on by

Police prevent hundreds from entering Reichstag and disband march protesting against Covid protection measures

Far-right extremists tried to storm the German parliament building on Saturday following a protest against the country’s pandemic restrictions, but were intercepted by police and forcibly removed.

The incident occurred after a daylong demonstration by tens of thousands of people opposed to the wearing of masks and other government measures intended to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. Police ordered the protesters to disband halfway through their march around Berlin after participants refused to observe physical distancing rules, but a rally near the capital’s iconic Brandenburg Gate took place as planned.

Continue reading...

Anger, grief and dark humour fill Christchurch high court as victims face gunman

Posted on by

Victims and the bereaved describe how their lives have been changed since the Australian terrorist’s massacre

“Good afternoon to everyone except you,” Wasseim Alsati Daragmih told the terrorist. There was a ripple of laughter in the courtroom and a smile from the Australian man who had shot him.

It was the afternoon of the second day of sentencing for the man who stormed two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in March 2019, killing 51 people and wounding dozens more – including Darragmih.

Continue reading...

Google giving far-right users’ data to law enforcement, documents reveal

Posted on by

Exclusive: in some cases Google did not necessarily ban users who were often threatening violence or expressing extremist views

A little-known investigative unit inside search giant Google regularly forwarded detailed personal information on the company’s users to members of a counter-terrorist fusion center in California’s Bay Area, according to leaked documents reviewed by the Guardian.

But checking the documents against Google’s platforms reveals that in some cases Google did not necessarily ban the users they reported to the authorities, and some still have accounts on YouTube, Gmail and other services.

Continue reading...

Berlin protests against coronavirus rules divide German leaders

Posted on by

Up to 20,000 demonstrated against restrictions, raising fears of a rise in infections

German leaders are divided over whether to restrict the rights of demonstrators, after tens of thousands of people who took to the streets of Berlin at the weekend failed to abide by hygiene and distancing rules.

According to officials, up to 20,000 people took part in demonstrations against the government’s coronavirus restrictions at different locations across Berlin on Saturday, amalgamating for a joint rally later in the day. Organisers said up to 1.3 million people took part, a figure that police denied.

Continue reading...

Steve Bannon hails Dominic Cummings and predicts lurch to right for No 10

Posted on by

Architect of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign reveals admiration for Boris Johnson’s aide in interview on dark politics

Steve Bannon, who has previously backed a range of notorious far-right political figures, has publicly endorsed Dominic Cummings for the first time, calling him a “brilliant guy”.

Donald Trump’s former chief strategist also said that Boris Johnson will become an increasingly populist prime minister after jettisoning his political positioning as a “globalist” to “opportunistically jump on Brexit”.

Continue reading...

‘We’re living in fear’: LGBT people in Italy pin hopes on new law

Posted on by

Debate on long-awaited bill that would punish discrimination and hate crimes towards LGBT people opens on Monday

For 15 years, Marco and his boyfriend had lived together fairly peacefully in a town outside Rome. Then, in early June, a neighbour started harassing them.

“It began quite lightly, with him being provocative whenever we met in the street,” the 38-year-old said. “Then he came to our home and forced his way in, calling us ‘dirty faggots’. My boyfriend managed to get rid of him but he returned with a baton and threw himself against the door, repeating the same insults and threatening to set us alight when we were asleep.”

Continue reading...

German Jewish leaders fear rise of antisemitic conspiracy theories linked to Covid-19

Posted on by

Opponents of lockdown holding Jews increasingly responsible for spread of virus

A leader of Germany’s Jewish community has expressed alarm at the spread of antisemitic conspiracy theories relating to coronavirus in the country, including attempts to downplay the Holocaust.

Josef Schuster, the president of the Central Council of Jews, said Jews were increasingly being held collectively responsible for the spread of the virus and compared the situation to narratives around the plague in the Middle Ages.

Continue reading...

Top Brazil newspaper in pro-democracy drive as unease grows about Bolsonaro

Posted on by

Folha de São Paulo urges people who support campaign to protect country’s political future to wear yellow

One of Brazil’s leading newspapers has launched a major pro-democracy campaign as unease grows about the threat many fear Jair Bolsonaro and his most militant supporters pose to the country’s political future.

Unveiling the initiative on Sunday, the Folha de São Paulo said systematic attacks from pro-Bolsonaro extremists were putting Brazilian democracy through its greatest “stress test” since the return of civilian rule in 1985.

Continue reading...

German far right infiltrates green groups with call to protect the land

Posted on by

Extremists exploit rural nostalgia and farmers’ anger at globalisation to smuggle in ideology

The poster advertising the evening of debate and organic canapés in Halle’s university district looked familiar to environmentally conscious Germans: a rugged pair of hands, cupping fertile brown soil, underneath the slogan “Farms instead of agricultural factories”, written in a font mimicking that of a popular biodynamic food brand.

The only hint the event wasn’t organised by sandal-wearing good-lifers but a local group of far-right nationalists was in the subtitle: “Let’s chase the globalists off our acres!”

Continue reading...

Far-right thugs exploit Black Lives Matter movement, warns UK anti-extremism chief

Posted on by

Home Office commissioner Sara Khan reveals surge in online hate material since death of George Floyd

The Black Lives Matter movement has been aggressively exploited by the UK’s far right, which has recruited and radicalised people on the back of its success, the government’s chief adviser on extremism has warned.

Sara Khan, Britain’s first counter-extremism commissioner, said far-right activists had used the death of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter (BLM) to propagate white supremacist narratives online.

Continue reading...

Violence by far-right is among US’s most dangerous terrorist threats, study finds

Posted on by

Center for Strategic and International Studies analysis of domestic terrorist incidents found majority have come from far right

Violence by far-right groups and individuals has emerged as one of the most dangerous terrorist threats faced by US law enforcement and triggered a wave of warnings and arrests of people associated with those extremist movements.

The most recent in-depth analysis of far-right terrorism comes from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Continue reading...

Police seek protests ban after 23 officers injured in London rallies

Posted on by

Head of police union for England and Wales calls for emergency law during Covid-19 pandemic

Priti Patel has been urged to impose an emergency ban on all protests after Britain’s biggest police force condemned the “mindless hooliganism” and “utterly shocking” violence of far-right activists against its officers in London.

The head of the body representing rank-and-file police officers in England and Wales called for tougher restrictions on demonstrations after 23 officers were injured and more than 100 people were arrested during clashes in London on Saturday.

Continue reading...

Trump takes note as the far right lobbies for violent crackdown on peaceful protests

Posted on by

Republican politicians, media personalities and rightwing activists suggest a show of force to George Floyd protesters – and the result could be severe

As protests over the police killing of George Floyd continue across the US, a slew of influential rightwing figures have been urging an ever more violent crackdown on the demonstrations – and it appears Donald Trump is listening.

Republican politicians, media personalities and rightwing activists have floated ideas including deploying specific units of the military, while one Republican candidate for Congress has even suggested she will shoot protesters.

Continue reading...

Hungary marks treaty centenary as Orbán harnesses ‘Trianon trauma’

Posted on by

PM uses settlement, which took away three-fifths of territory, for nationalist agenda

Church bells rang out across Budapest, public transport came to a halt and people observed a moment of silence as Hungary commemorated the centenary of the treaty of Trianon on Thursday.

Signed in the aftermath of the first world war, the treaty still forms a major part of Hungary’s national identity and memories of the harsh settlement have helped fuel the nationalist agenda of the current prime minister, Viktor Orbán.

Continue reading...