Fascist BNP run out of town by the people of Liverpool
On Saturday 2nd October, members of the British National Party who tried to hold a stall to promote their fascist agenda in Liverpool City Centre were met with angry protests by local people and quite literally ran out of town.
Two weeks before, when the BNP tried to hold a stall in the City Centre, they were met with massive, spontaneous resistance. As a result, last week they retreated to their stronghold in Huyton, but today they tried once again to claim the streets of Liverpool for the far-right. What a mistake that was.
As two weeks before, phone calls and text messages saw local antifascists mobilise in opposition. And once again, their ranks were swelled by great swathes of the public, particularly young people.
By one o’clock, there was a large, noisy protest under way, held back from the fascists only by a police presence.
The BNP responded by telling people to “fuck off you Irish bastard,” screaming “commie” and calling protesters “paedophiles,” including a Trade Union official. They also gave out racist abuse to black and Asian people who objected to their presence.
Police didn’t respond to complaints that they were breaking the law with their abusive behavior and language, and instead decided to start arresting people protesting against the BNP on the most spurious grounds!
The number of protesters steadily increased, with locals screaming, shouting, and singing at the increasingly agitated fash. It was only the presence of the police which allowed them to stand their ground, but their recruitment efforts were stopped and the day turned into a war of attrition.
Whilst chants rose up, activists from Liverpool Antifascists gave out several thousand leaflets to largely receptive passers-by.Some people did angrily reject the leaflets – only to come back and apologies when they realised we weren’t BNP! We also received genuine thanks from people for the work we were doing. Scores of people also passed on contact details and expressed an interest in joining the fight against fascism in Liverpool.
Where this event differed from a fortnight ago was that people, predominantly younger, returned with their mates to laugh and have a go at the BNP. It was a scene to remember as the fash were completely surrounded by good, decent Liverpool people, venting their anger and outrage that these scumbags had dared to appear in our City Centre.
Liverpool is a genuinely multicultural city. Our population come from a wide variety of mixed backgrounds, and make up one of the friendliest and welcoming cities in the world. Here, the colour of your skin and where you come from doesn’t mean squat, and the BNP’s attempts to stir the mire are not welcome here.
The day became the centre of attention for shoppers and visitors to our city. Many people from different countries, Spain, Norway, Sweden, China, the US, France, stopped for a chat and took our leaflets. They congratulated us for our efforts and agreed that these scumbags belonged to history. The only reason that the fascists were able operate was due to the heavy police presence. When I say “operate,” I mean to stand there and look stupid. They managed to do this very well.
Once again, a number of people who knew BNP activist and former Quiggins owner Peter Tierney from old raised questions about his sanity. Rumours are circulating about his mental health and the idea that he joined the far-right following a breakdown. He did little to dispel this wwhen he took to marching up and down, ringing a bell, and grinning maniacally at the antifascist crowd.
By 5 o’clock the crowd of people objecting to the BNP’s presence on our streets had grown even larger. Masses of younger people of all colours joined the demo, many getting in the face of the fascists who had turned up on our streets in an attempt to divide us.
Their activists responded by squaring up to teenagers and youngsters. Andrew Tierney at one point broke ranks to chase a young girl, only to be physically restrained. One fascist shoved a man holding his young daughter in has arms. And Jamie Luby was seen telling the same young girl to find him in O’Neills if she wanted to fight him.
Andrew Tierney: antifascists are "now fair game."
But the threats didn’t work on local people. Even children, some no older than eleven, stood up to the thugs. At one point, they jumped on a raised podium to block Andrew Tierney’s view of the girl he had been shouting at when he tried to take a picture of her.
As dusk approached, there were a couple of explosions close to the BNP. One exploded on the BNP’s stall table, collapsing it. Another exploded within the ranks of antifascists. The result was to make a number of protesters move away from the demo. there were many older people proteting against the BNP as were a number of people with young children; explosions in a closed area were therefore at best unwise.
Whatever the motives, Liverpool Antifascists cannot condone the act. We have found great success by educating people as to what the BNP are and only advocate the use of force in self-defence. Fortunately, nobody was seriously injured. Peter Tierney hurt his foot, though given his previous violence against antifascists, we don’t have much sympathy.
The thrower of the fireworks, a silly and incendiary act, was not identified.
By this stage the BNP were looking decidedly ruffled. Having given up on their attempts to recruit people, they resorted to their usual tactics of trying to intimidate people with clenched fists and abuse. Most telling was Andrew Tierney’s threat that – because an unknown individual had thrown fireworks – everyone who opposed the BNP was now “fair game.” Organiser Mike Whitby also promised that when they took pictures of those opposing the BNP, they would end up “on a site far worse than Redwatch.”
This shows that the BNP have far from outgrown their violent roots, and that they are still more than willing to intimidate and attack opponents. As Peter Tierney, of course, showed us when he picked up that camera tripod. But today it didn’t work. It was clear to everyone present, and people passing by, that the BNP are not welcome in Liverpool.
The grand finale came when the fascists decided that they’d taken enough abuse for one day and started getting their stuff together. It was like something out of a television drama.
Mike Whitby: pictures of anti-BNP protesters "will end up on a site worse than Redwatch."
They complained to the police about the behavouir of the protesters, but the BNP were the target for derision by respectable people for very good reason. The fascists had to rely on police protection to save them from the wrath of local people. Many of the police present were not comfortable with the job of protecting fascist scumbags, but nobody forced them to join the police. Any sympathy for them in this situation had been eroded by the arests of anti-fascists on the flimsiest of pretences, whilst abuse by the BNP was always conveniently overlooked.
The day finished off with a spectacle that will live forever.
Having got together their bits n’ bobs (and the £3.46 that they’d managed for their full days campaigning), the BNP were allowed to bring cars into Church Street. A line of police blocked them from the opposition as they got in, still mouthing off and offering threats.
Under heavy police escort, they managed to edge their way foward behind a convoy of police vehicles. But an enormous crowd, now well over two of hundred strong, surrounded this sorry spectacle, hurling abuse at the huddled group of fascists hiding behind their police minders. They were chased up Church and Lord Street in a scene reminiscent of the old westerns. The fascists were literally ran outta town.
‘Don’t come back soon’ was the message. Liverpool is a fascist free zone and its people intend to keep it that way.
¡No Pasarán!
Public started to gather, attracting more anti support. Come 1. 00 clock large, niosy protest under way, police presence. As the day progressed more liveraf supporters arrived distributing leaflets and talking to public, encouraging people to stick around, which they did. BNP getting isolated and recieving abuse of gen public. They responded by telling people to’fuck off you Irish bastard’, screaming ‘commie’ and calling protesters peadophiles, including a TU official. Curiously, the police refused to intervene when clearly the bnp ‘master race’ were clearly breaking the law with these allegations. A complaint will be going into Mside police about this. The bnp were also giving out racist abuse to black + Asian people who objected to their presence. Police didn’t respond to complaints that they were breaking the law with their abusive behavior and language and unfortunately decided to start arresting people protesting against the bnp on spurious grounds. No’s of protesters increased, mostly gen public screaming abuse at fash who became increasingly agitated. Needless to say, their aim of recruitment now becoming a battle of attrition, only being able to stand their ground due to heavy police protection; the BNP ‘s attempt at respectability failing abysmally. Liveraf supporters and other anti fash distributed some 3000 ‘liveraf’ leaflets to the gen publc, mostly well recieved. About one in a hundred made adverse comments and refused our leaflet but I can live with that considering most people gladly took them and shook our hands and made very positive comments. Scores of people signed up for Liveraf to oppose fascism in our City.
The difference about this event was that people, predominantly younger, returned with their mates to laugh and have a go at the bnp. It became a scene never to be forgotten as the fash were completely surrounded by good, decent Lpool people venting their anger and outrage that these scumbags dared to appear in our City Centre. Lpool, a proper mulicultural city, with our population of mixed backgrounds who get on very well together where skin colour doesn’t mean diddly, and yet here were a group of nazis trying to stir the mire.
The day became the centre of attention for Lpool shoppers and visitors to our City. Many people from different countries, Spain, Norway, Sweden, China, the US, France, stopped for a chat and took our leaflets, congratulating us for our efforts and agreeing that these scumbags belong to history; no place for racism in todays world. The only reason that the fascists were able operate was due to the heavy police presence. When I say operate I mean to stand there and look stupid as no-one was taking their material. They managed to do this very well. If prizes were to be awarded for stupidity then they’d have got a first. A number of people confronted the BNP members face to face telling them exactly what they thought of them. Once again, a No of people who knew P. Tierney from old questioned his sanity and given that rumours are circulating about his mental health. Not an unreasonable question when the individuals who he was standing with created a bizarre spectacle.
Another bnp stalwart, when asked where his swastika was boasted that he had it tattood on his arm! Obviously not confident to display it though as it would’ve given the game away to the nature of their true politics.
By 5.00 clock the crowd of people objecting to their presence on our streets had grown even larger. Large groups of younger people, of all colours joined the demo. This surely proves that the ideology of the bnp is never going to be accepted by ordinary people. Lpool people don’t care about skin colour or religion; they recognise that its unimportant in the world of today. Liverpool is a truly multi-cultural society where everyone joined in to torment the fascists who’d dared turn up on our streets in an attempt to divide us.
As dusk approached a couple of explosions amongst the bnp caused a mixed reaction. While the motives may have been good, the result was to make a No of anti-bnp protesters move away from the demo. Bear in mind that there were many older people proteting against the bnp as were a number of people with young children; explosions in a closed area therefore were probably not the best tactic. Liveraf supporters prefer to educate people to what the bnp are and felt that under the circumstances the fireworks were unneccessary and possibly had a negative affect.
By this stage the bnp were looking decidedly ruffled. Having given up on their attempts to recruit people they resorted to their usual tactics of tring to intimidate people with clenched fists, abuse and of course the never ending photo’s to try to frightem people. It didn’t work. It was clear to everyone present, and people passing by, that the bnp are’nt welcome in Lpool.
The grand finale came when the fascists decided that they’d taken enough abuse for one day and started getting their stuff together. It was like something out of a television drama. They complained to the police about the behavouir of the protesters as though they themselves were somehow respectable people. Anybody who knows anything about the bnp will know that respectable they’re not. A bunch of violent racsits trying to peddle their filth is anything but decent and everyone present knew it, not to mention their criminal convictions. The BNP were the target for derision by respectable people for very good reason; the fascists had to rely on police protection to save them from the wrath of Lpool people. Many of the police present were obviously not at all comfortable with the job they’d been tasked with this day of protecting fascist scumbags but from the point of view of liveraf is that nobody makes anyone join the police. Any sympathy for the police in this situation wasn’t helped by the fact that a number of anti-fascists were arrested when most people present felt that the scummy fascists should be the ones in the back of the police vans.
The day finished off with a spectacle that will live forever. The bnp, having got together their bits n bobs and the £3.46 that they’d managed for their full days campaigning, were ushered into their cars by the police; cars that were allowed to enter a pedestrianised area in town. Surrounded by the good people of Lpool, under heavy police escort, they managed to edge their way foward following a convoy of police vehicles. A huge crowd , maybe a couple of hundred, surrounded this sorry spectacle, hurling abuse at the huddled group of fascists sitting tight with their police minders. I’ll never forget the scene as they were chased up Lord Street by hundreds of anti-fascists letting the world know that the bnp aren’t welcome in Lpool. Reminiscant of the old westerns, the fascists were literally chased outta town. ‘Don’t come back soon’ was the message. Liverpool is a fascist free zone and Lpool people intend to keep it that way.
