Sheep's Clothing
The Times reports that a founding member of the London Black Revolutionaries, an anti-austerity protest group, is a convicted sex attacker who changed his name from Jack Kenny to Fidel Santigi.
Now these rent-a-mob, anarchist groups are ten-a-penny in London and their aim is always to create a confrontation with the police, often by hijacking other people's protests and demonstrations.
Seems like they succeeded here and in doing so they draw attention away from the real issues through their vandalism and violent behaviour.
Sex convict led revolutionaries behind violent austerity demo
Fidel Santigi - Photo by Corbis
By David Brown - The Times
The anti-austerity protests that ended in violence outside Downing Street were organised by a revolutionary group founded by a violent sex attacker.
Fifteen protesters, including a boy aged 16, were arrested on suspicion of violent disorder and assaulting police during the protest, which included the vandalism of a war memorial hours before a VE-Day memorial concert.
Downing Street condemned the vandalism as “despicable” and Scotland Yard had to defend its policing of the event, which is likely to lead to concerns about the failure to control violent protests in the heart of London.
Hundreds of mainly white, middle-class students joined the protests on Saturday afternoon against the election of a Conservative government and “austerity”. The main protest had been organised by the London Black Revolutionaries, a group of mainly black and Asian youths, with support from a series of other hard-left groups.
The London Black Revolutionaries expelled one of its co-founders this year, when it was revealed that he had changed his name to Fidel Santigi from Jack Kenny after being sentenced to five years’ detention for a violent sex attack on a Cambridge student in 2009.
Kenny, a familiar face at left-wing protests, has also been key member of the campaign seeking “justice” for Mark Duggan, whose shooting by police in 2011 led to rioting across England, and is an active supporter of the Defend the Right to Protest group. He describes himself as a film-maker.
The London Black Revolutionaries called for protesters to meet outside of the headquarters of the Conservative party at 3pm on Saturday saying “individuals, groups and communities must take to the streets to show their discontent”. The group said: “We have voted and it got us nowhere . . . when they don’t represent us, we must take direct action.”
A separate protest had been planned outside Downing Street by the People’s Assembly Against Austerity, whose supporters include the comedian Russell Brand and major trade unions, which was due to start at 1pm.
The People’s Assembly event was cancelled on Friday and supporters were encouraged to join the London Black Revolutionaries protests and a smaller demonstration being staged by the Occupy Democracy movement in Parliament Square.
Acting Commander Colin Morgan said yesterday: “Police were aware of potential protests, and a number of small groups were monitored on Saturday afternoon as they moved around the Westminster area.”
However, police appeared taken by surprise when the different groups began gathering outside Downing Street at 4pm and the protest became “larger and more disorderly”. A group of about 25 youths dressed in black and wearing masks appeared to be at the centre of the violence.
Mr Morgan said: “A number of protesters engaged in violent disorder and, in a quick response to this escalation, at 18.17 hours, a containment was put in place to prevent any further breach of the peace.
“We respect the right of people to protest peacefully, while we must also balance the need for Londoners and visitors to go about their business — and for events such as this weekend’s VE-Day celebrations to be held safely.”
One police officer was taken to hospital with a suspected dislocated shoulder and a member of police staff was taken to hospital with a cut lip after being hit by a thrown object. Three other officers were treated for their injuries the scene. None of the protesters was reported to have been injured.
Twelve of those arrested, including one woman, are aged 19 to 26, with the two other men aged 30 and 45. They have been released on police bail. A man of 24 remained in custody yesterday having been arrested on suspicion of assaulting police. It is not clear whether any of those arrested were members of the the organising groups.
Scotland Yard said that officers were studying CCTV footage to identify who sprayed offensive graffiti referring to “Tory scum” on the Women’s War Memorial, which is yards from Horse Guards Parade where a concert to commemorate the 70th anniversary of VE-Day took place on Saturday.
The London Black Revolutionaries said in a statement on Facebook that the protesters had “marched around Westminster peacefully for several hours”. It said: “On the approach to Downing Street, police violently attacked, baton, grab, punch and arrest young protesters.”
Charlotte Church, the singer, joined a similar peaceful rally of 200 people at the Aneurin Bevan statue in Cardiff, where she was photographed carrying a placard which read: “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more.”
The anti-austerity protests that ended in violence outside Downing Street were organised by a revolutionary group founded by a violent sex attacker.
Fifteen protesters, including a boy aged 16, were arrested on suspicion of violent disorder and assaulting police during the protest, which included the vandalism of a war memorial hours before a VE-Day memorial concert.
Downing Street condemned the vandalism as “despicable” and Scotland Yard had to defend its policing of the event, which is likely to lead to concerns about the failure to control violent protests in the heart of London.
Hundreds of mainly white, middle-class students joined the protests on Saturday afternoon against the election of a Conservative government and “austerity”. The main protest had been organised by the London Black Revolutionaries, a group of mainly black and Asian youths, with support from a series of other hard-left groups.
The London Black Revolutionaries expelled one of its co-founders this year, when it was revealed that he had changed his name to Fidel Santigi from Jack Kenny after being sentenced to five years’ detention for a violent sex attack on a Cambridge student in 2009.
Kenny, a familiar face at left-wing protests, has also been key member of the campaign seeking “justice” for Mark Duggan, whose shooting by police in 2011 led to rioting across England, and is an active supporter of the Defend the Right to Protest group. He describes himself as a film-maker.
The London Black Revolutionaries called for protesters to meet outside of the headquarters of the Conservative party at 3pm on Saturday saying “individuals, groups and communities must take to the streets to show their discontent”. The group said: “We have voted and it got us nowhere . . . when they don’t represent us, we must take direct action.”
A separate protest had been planned outside Downing Street by the People’s Assembly Against Austerity, whose supporters include the comedian Russell Brand and major trade unions, which was due to start at 1pm.
The People’s Assembly event was cancelled on Friday and supporters were encouraged to join the London Black Revolutionaries protests and a smaller demonstration being staged by the Occupy Democracy movement in Parliament Square.
Acting Commander Colin Morgan said yesterday: “Police were aware of potential protests, and a number of small groups were monitored on Saturday afternoon as they moved around the Westminster area.”
However, police appeared taken by surprise when the different groups began gathering outside Downing Street at 4pm and the protest became “larger and more disorderly”. A group of about 25 youths dressed in black and wearing masks appeared to be at the centre of the violence.
Mr Morgan said: “A number of protesters engaged in violent disorder and, in a quick response to this escalation, at 18.17 hours, a containment was put in place to prevent any further breach of the peace.
“We respect the right of people to protest peacefully, while we must also balance the need for Londoners and visitors to go about their business — and for events such as this weekend’s VE-Day celebrations to be held safely.”
One police officer was taken to hospital with a suspected dislocated shoulder and a member of police staff was taken to hospital with a cut lip after being hit by a thrown object. Three other officers were treated for their injuries the scene. None of the protesters was reported to have been injured.
Twelve of those arrested, including one woman, are aged 19 to 26, with the two other men aged 30 and 45. They have been released on police bail. A man of 24 remained in custody yesterday having been arrested on suspicion of assaulting police. It is not clear whether any of those arrested were members of the the organising groups.
Scotland Yard said that officers were studying CCTV footage to identify who sprayed offensive graffiti referring to “Tory scum” on the Women’s War Memorial, which is yards from Horse Guards Parade where a concert to commemorate the 70th anniversary of VE-Day took place on Saturday.
The London Black Revolutionaries said in a statement on Facebook that the protesters had “marched around Westminster peacefully for several hours”. It said: “On the approach to Downing Street, police violently attacked, baton, grab, punch and arrest young protesters.”
Charlotte Church, the singer, joined a similar peaceful rally of 200 people at the Aneurin Bevan statue in Cardiff, where she was photographed carrying a placard which read: “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more.”
