A Labour councillor has been arrested after being filmed telling protestors that the “far right” are all Nazis who need their throats cut.
Ricky Jones made the incendiary remarks to the crowd at a “refugees welcome here” rally in Walthamstow:
They are disgusting Nazi fascists and we need to cut all their throats and get rid of them all.
At least one delighted Amnesty International steward laughed and clapped as Jones, who represents the Princes ward on Dartford Borough Council in south east London, drew cheers from crowd members (some masked) and made a ‘throat-slitting’ gesture. The group around Jones then chanted “Free Palestine!”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage tweeted:
This man should be arrested. If not, we know there is two-tier policing.
On Thursday, the Metropolitan Police announced it had arrested a man on suspicion of encouraging murder and for a public order offence.
Dartford Labour Party has also suspended Councillor Jones.
The north east London ‘counter-protest’ was widely praised in the mainstream media—presented as an end to the riots sparked by the killing of three young girls in Southport last week—as an example of ‘the community’ coming together to conquer hate. Public concerns about mass immigration and security were mostly vilified or dismissed in such coverage.
The truth about the counter-protests is more murky. Screenshots of several nationwide lists ‘leaked’ from the Telegram messaging app purported to name 60 to 100 immigration lawyers’ offices and similar premises as targets for so-called far right protests. In most cases, including Walthamstow, the protests, and predicted riots, did not materialise—although smug counter protestors did. Afterwards, even Hope Not Hate anti-racism campaigner/grifter Nick Lowles admitted the lists might have been a hoax.
In the build-up to a separate north London ‘counter-protest,’ a group called Finchley Against Fascism was criticised for publicity materials that included the threat to “Get Fascists, Racists, Nazis, Zionists & Islamophobes Out Of Finchley!” North Finchley has a large Jewish population.
Local Labour MP Sarah Sackman reported the group and its posters to police as “clearly anti-Semitic.”
