Tennessee State Senator Bill Ketron (R)

Republicans were all for this bill that would take money out of public schools and put them in private or parochial schools until they realized that– since the law applies equally to all citizens–Muslims may also apply for the same funding!

How will they solve this conundrum? Well Bill Ketron of recent ‘Sharia Mops’ fame wants to exclude them from the “new voucher  program,” keeping the voucher program “Judeo-Christian.”

Tennessee May Deliberately Exclude Muslim Schools From New Voucher Program

By Adam Peck on Apr 3, 2013 at 11:45 am

Several conservative lawmakers in Tennessee are throwing the brakes on a fast-moving bill that would divert money away from public schools and towards vouchers for students to attend private or parochial schools. Republicans are taking a second look at the bill after the possibility arose that some Islamic schools could apply for the same funding made available to other religious schools.

The bill is a top priority for Republican Governor Bill Haslam, but several anti-religion lawmakers in the state senate, led by Sen. Bill Ketron who sponsored several anti-Islam bills in the last few years, are hoping to strip away the ability for any school that caters to Muslim children and their families to receive public dollars:

“This is an issue we must address,” state Sen. Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville) said. “I don’t know whether we can simply amend the bill in such a way that will fix the issue at this point.”

State Sen. Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro) and Tracy each expressed their concerns Friday over Senate Bill 0196, commonly called the “School Voucher Bill” and sponsored by fellow Sen. Mark Norris (R-Collierville), which would give parents of children attending failing public schools a voucher with which to enroll in a private school.

Ketron has cultivated a reputation as the state’s chief Islamophobe, proposing a bill in 2011 that could have introduced punishments of up to 15 years in jail for any Muslim who observed the holy month of Ramadan or prayed five times a day towards Mecca, a religious requirement for observant Muslims.

Tennessee is not the first state to try and carve out exemptions to education funding that target only Muslims. Last year, Louisiana Republicans threatened to hold up an education bill backed by Governor Bobby Jindal (R) for similar reasons: a single private Islamic school had applied for a handful of vouchers that Republicans intended to make available only to nondenominational and Judeo-Christian schools. That bill ultimately passed and was signed into law but only after the school — the Islamic School of Greater New Orleans — withdrew its application for vouchers.

Oh noes, it appears the wily stealth Mooslims installed a terrorist sink in the Tennessee state legislature! Or so thought a couple of Tennessee House and Senate members, namely Republican Sen. Bill Kreton and Rep. Judd Matheny. These two lawmakers also happened to be the main sponsors of a 2011 anti-Sharia bill.

Apparently Bill and Judd believed the offending sink was a “Muslim foot bath,” it was actually just a “mop sink.”

(h/t: fxmatt4)

TN lawmakers confuse mop sink for Muslim foot-washing sink

(The Tennessean)

NASHVILLE — Sometimes a mop sink is just a mop sink.

Building managers and legislative staffers have sought to reassure some concerned Tennessee lawmakers that recent renovations at the state Capitol did not install special facilities for Muslims to wash their feet before praying.

“I confirmed with the facility administrator for the State Capitol Complex that the floor-level sink installed in the men’s restroom outside the House Chamber is for housekeeping use,” Legislative Administration Director Connie Ridley wrote in an email. “It is, in layman’s terms, a mop sink.”

The nearly $16 million renovation completed in December focused on upgrading electrical, mechanical and plumbing systems in the more than 150-year-old Capitol. Parts of the building also got new carpets, paint and security upgrades.

Senate Clerk Russell Humphrey said he had been approached by a House and Senate member to inquire about the sink, which replaced a utility sink that had been mounted higher on the wall and was used for filling and emptying buckets.

“There was concern about why it had been modified,” said Humphrey, who declined to identify the lawmakers or elaborate on their concerns.

“I certainly wouldn’t want to quote a member inaccurately about what they may or may not have said,” he said.

Republican Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, confirmed that he had spoken to Humphrey about whether there were religious reasons for the new sink after the issue was raised by Rep. Judd Matheny, R-Tullahoma.

“I just asked the question about what was the intent of that,” Ketron said. “And it satisfied my curiosity after it was presented to me.”

Matheny denied that he was involved in raising questions about the basin.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he told The Associated Press last week. “It’s not ringing a bell.”

While details of the practice vary by sect, Muslims are required to wash their faces, hands and feet before praying as an act of ablution, or ritual purification. Forms of ablution are practiced in almost all major faiths.

The ritual washing of others’ feet is practiced by some Christians as a sign of humility and emulating Jesus Christ, who was said to have washed the feet of his disciples before the Last Supper.

Matheny and Ketron were the main sponsors of a 2011 bill that sought to make it a felony to follow some versions of the Islamic code known as Shariah law.

Hundreds of Muslims came to the Legislature to express fears the measure would outlaw central tenets of Islam, such as praying five times a day toward Mecca, abstaining from alcohol or fasting for Ramadan.

A heavily watered-down law ultimately enacted by the Legislature bore little resemblance to the original proposal and references to any specific religion were removed.

Florida: ‘Anti-Sharia’ law is back

A renewed attempt to pass a controversial “foreign law” bill proposed by Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, and Rep. Larry Metz, R-Yahala, was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, after more than an hour of sometimes emotional public testimony.

The bill, SB 58, bans courts or other legal authorities from using religious or foreign law as a part of a legal decision or contract relating to family law. Florida law would supercede foreign law regarding divorce, alimony, the division of marital assets, child support and child custody. The bill is ready to be heard on the House floor but it has more committee stops in the Senate. Last year, the bill passed the House but died in the Senate.

Supporters say the proposal isn’t targeting religious groups, but the bill has been criticized as anti-Sharia, a Koran-based code followed in some Islamic countries, by Islamic groups as well as Jewish organizations and the American Civil Liberties Union.

“It should raise some eyebrows for you, the fact that there’s a rabbi speaking out against the bill who’s from Israel and a Arab Muslim, that’s me, also speaking out against the bill,” said Ahmed Bedier, president of the United Voices for America. “We may disagree what is happening in the Middle East, but we agree on this bill – that it discriminates and targets our communities.”

Hays said the bill “prevents a potential problem” from occurring in Florida courts and that it’s “not insulting to any religious group.”

“If your law violates the constitutional rights of a Floridian, it has no business being in a Florida court,” Hays said.

Miami Herald, 6 March 2013

See also Atif Fareed, “Meaningless bill caters to Islamaphobes”,Orlando Sentinel, 21 February 2013

And David Barkey, “Leadership in Tallahassee must stand against intolerance”, Tampa Bay Tribune, 25 January 2013

Interfaith and solidarity groups are stronger and more numerous in the United States than hate groups, unfortunately the voices of hate tend to be louder at times, amplified by the media.

Hopefully Gohmert will pay heed to the words of the Interfaith Alliance instead of lending a deaf ear.

Interfaith Group To GOP Congressman: Stop Demonizing Islam

ThinkProgress

An interfaith group is speaking out against Rep. Louie Gohmert’s (R-TX) claim on Thursday that Americans need the Second Amendment’s protection in order to shield the nation from Sharia Law.

Speaking on a radio show called The Voice of Freedom, Gohmert insisted that “We’ve got some people who think Sharia Law should be the law of the land, forget the Constitution. But the guns are there… to make sure all of the rest of the Amendments are followed.” In response, Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, President of the Interfaith Alliance, has sent a letter to Gohmert, protesting his “continued demonization of Islam”:

I feel compelled to again remind you that the continued demonization of Islam and disenfranchisement of the American Muslim community is not only uncalled for, it is a dangerous affront to the religious freedom upon which this nation was founded and it must end. American Muslims, the overwhelming majority of whom live peaceful, law-abiding lives — just like Americans from other religious groups — should not have to live in a country where their elected officials imply that they need to be kept at bay with firearms.

Furthermore, at a time when gun violence has wracked our nation with one unimaginable tragedy after another, I would hope that elected officials such as you would stay focused on real measures to prevent future needless deaths. I would hope that you would focus your attention on measures to truly balance the Second Amendment rights you so strongly defend, rather than derailing what should be a substantive policy discussion with misguided bigotry.

Gohmert has been in trouble before with the Interfaith Alliance, having also received a letter from them during his partnership with Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) to persecute Muslim-American government officials. Gorhmert has also during his time in Congress called for hearings on the dangers of Sharia and claimed that President Obama went to war in Libya to help Al Qaeda spreadacross the Middle East.

Rev. Gaddy also included with his letter a copy of a text titled “What is the Truth About American Muslims: Questions and Answers,” produced by Interfaith Alliance and the Religious Freedom Education Project of the First Amendment Center. Congressman Gohmert’s office did not immediately respond to an e-mailed question regarding whether or not he had read over, or plans to read, the resource.

The full text of the letter can be read after the break.

February 22, 2013
The Honorable Louie Gohmert
2243 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Representative Gohmert:

I write to you with great concern over your recent comments on the radio program The Voice of Freedom regarding measures to prevent gun violence. Your implication that the Second Amendment must be strongly upheld so that Americans can arm themselves against sharia, Muslim religious law, is troubling. It is all the more troubling when I recall that just last summer the organization which I serve as president, Interfaith Alliance, alongside 41 religious and civil rights groups wrote to you in protest of your demonization of prominent American Muslim government officials and community organizations. I am disappointed to see that neither your rhetoric nor your misinformed view of Islam has changed.

I hope that you will review a resource Interfaith Alliance produced in collaboration with the Religious Freedom Education Project of the First Amendment Center entitled What is the Truth About American Muslims: Questions and Answers. I have attached a copy to this letter and in particular would call your attention to questions 19-27 which focus on the nature of sharia. These questions include, “How do American Muslims follow sharia?” and “Do American Muslims want to replace the U.S. Constitution with sharia?” This resource has also been endorsed by nearly two dozen religious, civic and civil rights groups, all united to combat ignorance and bigotry against American Muslims and protect religious freedom.

I feel compelled to again remind you that the continued demonization of Islam and disenfranchisement of the American Muslim community is not only uncalled for, it is a dangerous affront to the religious freedom upon which this nation was founded and it must end. American Muslims, the overwhelming majority of whom live peaceful, law-abiding lives — just like Americans from other religious groups — should not have to live in a country where their elected officials imply that they need to be kept at bay with firearms.

Furthermore, at a time when gun violence has wracked our nation with one unimaginable tragedy after another, I would hope that elected officials such as you would stay focused on real measures to prevent future needless deaths. I would hope that you would focus your attention on measures to truly balance the Second Amendment rights you so strongly defend, rather than derailing what should be a substantive policy discussion with misguided bigotry. No matter our disagreements, we as a nation need to be done forever with the thought that guns are a solution to our problems.

In my experience, the only people in the U.S. government who are concerned that there are those who think “sharia law ought to be the law of the land” are those who, like you, are misguidedly attempting to infringe upon the religious freedom of American Muslims to practice their faith. I hope that you will give a close look to the attached questions and answers guide and cease your demonization of a group of Americans who have the same right as you to be here and practice their faith.

Sincerely,

Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy
President
Interfaith Alliance

Loon Lawyer David Yerushalmi

Perhaps the strangest of Islamophobes, Jewish White Supremacist David Yerushalmi is giving the anti-Shariah legislation drive another push in Florida.

Leadership in Tallahassee must stand against intolerance

by David Barkey (Tampa Bay Online)

Over the past two legislative sessions, the Florida House and Senate wasted precious taxpayer dollars hearing harmful and unnecessary anti-Sharia legislation. Indeed, it came perilously close to passage in 2012 — passing the House and ultimately dying awaiting a final vote in the Senate.

So no Floridian should be surprised that an anti-Sharia bill was once again filed for the 2013 session. The real uncertainty is whether Tallahassee leadership will finally stand up to this intolerance, or again give into it and, in the process, waste valuable taxpayer dollars.

The neutrally titled and worded “Application of Foreign Law” bill, which applies to family law provisions, is nothing more than camouflaged bigotry. It is based on model language drafted by a controversial attorney, David Yerushalmi, who has a record of espousing anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant and racist views.

This legislation is a classic example of the proverbial “solution in search of a problem.” Its supposed purpose is to counter the infiltration of our judicial and legal system by Sharia (Islamic) law. But for the past two legislative sessions, proponents have failed to cite even one Florida court decision, or any other court decision, demonstrating an actual need for this legislation.

They can’t provide any examples because — as pointed out by a recent American Bar Association resolution and report opposing anti-Sharia measures — state and federal laws already prohibit courts from applying religious or foreign law in any way that would be against public policy, or constitute government advancement of or entanglement with religion.

This reckless legislation, however, imprudently goes far beyond these proven limitations.

The Legislature’s leadership should block this legislation because it is legally unwarranted and morally abhorrent. Simply put, anti-Muslim prejudice must not be memorialized in Florida law. But blocking this legislation is also in the religious freedom interests of other Florida communities.

This legislation is applicable to all religious law. So, for instance, the observant Jewish community regularly uses religious tribunals (Bet Dins) to resolve all kinds of disputes, including divorce settlements, which often are the basis for civil court divorce decrees and orders.

But this legislation would prevent a Jewish couple in Florida from voluntarily using a Bet Din to resolve their divorce settlement, and also would invalidate an out-of state divorce based on a Bet Din arbitration.

It also could negatively impact the use of Christian religious tribunals or certain applications of Canon law.

The leadership in Tallahassee needs to send a clear message that Florida values its diversity and welcomes persons of all backgrounds. They can do that by blocking this offensive bill, and unifying Floridians through legislation that finds common ground to move the state forward.

(h/t: JD)

Beware: Human-Hating Liberals and Islamic Extremists Seek to Build Shariommunism

by Ilisha

Yesterday was the big day when Zombie Muhammad was expected to flog a Qur’an with a cat ‘o nine tails at the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Judging by the nonexistent press coverage, even  in the local paper, the event was a bust, if it happened at all.

Last July, Ernest Perce V, director of the Pennsylvania Chapter of American Atheists, announced he would protest if the state House of Representatives didn’t drop its “Year of Religious Diversity” resolution. Last March he also protested a “Year of the Bible” resolution with a controversial  anti-Christian billboard:

Atheist group’s slave billboard in Allison Hill neighborhood called racist, ineffective

A Harrisburg billboard’s depiction of a slave with a spiked metal collar around his neck rises to the level of a hate crime, said a retired Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission director, who plans to report it.

The billboard, which says “Slaves, obey your masters,” a quote from the Bible, was paid for by the groups American Atheists and Pennsylvania Nonbelievers. It went up Tuesday morning at 13th and Paxton streets in the Allison Hill neighborhood, the city’s most racially diverse section, angering some African-Americans, including clergy, legislators, the mayor and the president of the local NAACP branch.

The billboard company rarely takes down signs, a spokesman said.

The full article and the billboard can be viewed here. Apparently Perce’s hatred for Islam has softened his stance toward Christians. He expressly invited them, and the rest of the community, to join him in his “Flog a Quran” hatefest.

His special animosity toward Islam apparently stems in part from an incident during a Halloween parade last fall, where he was confronted by an angry Muslim while marching as Zombie Muhammad. Citing a lack of evidence, a judge dismissed the subsequent harassment case in  February, setting off a firestorm of controversy. The judge was said to be a Muslim (he wasn’t) enforcing blasphemy laws under Sharia in a Pennsylvania court.

Of course the judge made no reference to any Islamic sources of law, and Perce wasn’t charged with “blasphemy,” nor was he deprived of his right to free speech and public displays of belligerence. He could have gone out the very night of the verdict and paraded as Zombie Muhammad. In any case, the loons went wild, and a lynch mob mentality prevailed.

Judge Martin had to relocate out of fear of retribution, as the story went viral in the looniverse. Coverage of the incident on Loonwatch led to a vigorous debate in the comments here.

Who knows why “Flog a Quran Day” failed to draw much attention. Maybe it never happened, or maybe it did and no one cared. In any case, Perce is not giving up his vendetta against Judge Martin.

Now it seems he’s feeling litigious, and has turned to The Legal Project, a right wing “think tank” founded by anti-Muslim bigot, Daniel “A Muhammad Cartoon a Day” Pipes. The Legal Project is affiliated with the anti-Muslim hate site, the Middle East Forum:

‘Zombie Mohammad’ Wants Judge Removed from Bench

…Last October, atheist Ernest Perce dressed in a “zombie Mohammad” costume to march in a Halloween parade in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania and was attacked by a Muslim in the crowd. But Perce was subsequently arrested by a local police officer. Cumberland County Magisterial District Judge Mark Martin then dismissed the harassment charges Perce filed against Talaag Elbayomy, his Muslim attacker, and instead called Perce a “doofus”, citing the Islamic faith and anti-blasphemy sharia laws as a rationale for the physical assault (see earlier story).

Sam Nunberg of The Legal Project, an activity of the Middle East Forum, which is representing Perce. He has a problem with Judge Martin’s recognition of sharia law.

“This ruling throws out our United States Constitution, throws out our First Amendment, puts Islamic anti-blasphemy defamation of religion laws over our First Amendment, gives it binding in the court system, and lets the defendant off of a crime, rationalizing that what he did would not be wrong in Islamic countries,” Nunberg summarizes.

When a complaint was filed about Martin, the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board only “privately rebuked” him for his ruling.

Read the rest here

If the loons succeed in getting Judge Martin removed from the bench, it won’t be the first time their petty grievances damaged someone’s career. Last June, some loons dredged up a seven year old academic paper and managed to oust a Muslim doctor from the prestigious Mayo Clinic for nothing more than a “thought crime.”

The loons are incestuous, well organized, and tenacious.  In the current climate, it’s hard to predict what might happen next.

Related Stories:

Loon Victory: Muslim Doctor Ousted for FGM Thought Crime

Pennsylvania “Sharia Court”: Loons Jump the Gun AGAIN on Ginned up “Legal Jihad”

“Zombie Muhammad” Strikes Again

It’s wonderful news that Rimsha Masih has been released from jail in Pakistan.

Masih is an 11 year old Christian girl who was arrested under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws after she was falsely accused of burning the Quran. She and her family will remain in protective custody to ensure their safety.

One interesting point to highlight in the following article is that Pakistan’s blasphemy laws derive not from Sharia, but from Biritsh colonial laws, circa 1860. The looniest blogger ever, Pamela Geller, is frothing-at-the-mouth, telling her readers anyone reporting this unwelcome historical  fact is, “whitewashing Pakistan’s blasphemy laws,” including CNN.

Whatever the origin of Pakistan’s vile blasphemy laws, they urgently need to be repealed. Let’s hope this outrageous, high profile case will ultimately spark much needed reform.

In Pakistan, girl freed but blasphemy debate still stuck

By Taha Siddiqui, Christian Science Monitor

Pakistan released from jail a Christian girl accused of burning Muslim religious texts and flew her to an undisclosed location by government helicopter.

“Due to the security concerns surrounding her and the family, the girl is being kept in government’s protective custody and there are plans to settle them outside Islamabad,” says Tahir Naveed Chaudhry, one of her lawyers.

The courts had approved the girl’s bail on Friday at a sum of one million rupees (equivalent to $10,500), on the grounds of her being a minor. The accusations against the girl had also lost strength when it emerged that a local cleric had planted burnt pages of the Quran in the evidence, in order to evict Christians from the locality they were living in.

Activists seeking to reform Pakistan’s stringent blasphemy laws had hoped this case would spur public debate and government action toward amending the laws. However, that has not happened yet, say activists, and the girl’s release may cause the spotlight to fade.

“Even though we are happy that the child is now reunited with her parents, I am unhappy about the public face the government put on during the ordeal. The state did not come with any long term resolve to stop the abuse of blasphemy laws, and the debate does not even seem to go in that direction,” says Peter Jacob, head of one of the largest minority rights’ activist groups in Pakistan.

The blasphemy laws, which date back to the colonial times in South Asia, were carried forward in the constitution by Pakistani authorities after the country’s independence in 1947. In the 1980s, draconian amendments to the laws by a military dictator were introduced, to the extent that anyone found guilty of committing blasphemy can be punished for life, and in severe cases, with a death sentence.

“The text of the law has problems but even if that is changed, it is the mindset of society that needs to be changed,” says Marvi Sirmed, a social activist, who has been threatened many times over her strong secular views. “Until and unless the state divorces itself from religion, and becomes secular, persecution of minorities will continue to happen,” Ms. Sirmed adds…

Pakistan’s Christian community

Pakistan’s roughly 2.7 million Christians make up less than 2 percent of the population. The Christianity community here, both Catholic and Protestant, traces much of its roots back to missionary efforts during British rule of the Indian subcontinent…

Read the rest here

Related Stories: 

Pakistan: 11 Year Old Christian Girl, Rimsha Masih Arrested on Charges of Blasphemy

Pakistani mullah ‘planted charred texts’ on girl accused of blasphemy

Senior Islamic cleric defends Christian girl: “Our Heads are Bowed in Shame”

Mehdi Hasan: Not In My Name: Islam, Pakistan and the Blasphemy Laws

CAIR Calls for Release of Pakistani Girl Held for ‘Blasphemy’

The looniverse has been uncharacteristically quiet about this story, leaving rabid anti-Muslim blog Bare Naked Islam to pick up the torch:

Rabid Israel-hater and huge Hamas-supporter, Rep. Keith Ellison (D- MN), says GOP is the party of bigots because it opposes sharia law

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim Congressman, who was sworn in on a Quran, and took money from a group (MAS) dedicated to destroying Western civilization from within, has decided to identify anyone who has a problem with Sharia law being implemented in the United States as a bigot. Interesting, coming from a member of the most bigoted group on earth – MUSLIMS!…

Read the rest…

In case you’re wondering, MAS is the Muslim American Society, and you can read all about it on another, slightly more sophisticated hate site here.

Mother Jones also covered the story, minus the frothing-at-the-mouth editorializing.

Rep. Keith Ellison: GOP Is “Basically a Bigoted Party”

—By Tim Murphy,  Mother Jones

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the nation’s first-ever Muslim member of Congress, doesn’t mince words when asked about the Republican party’s formal proclamation that the United States is under assault from Islamic Shariah law.

“It’s an expression of bigotry,” he said on Wednesday, in an interview with Mother Jones at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. “There has never been any legislation offered to establish Shariah law—not at the federal level, not at the state level. There’s not been a municipal ordinance opposing this, there’s not been anything.”

For Ellison, the anti-Shariah plank was part of a broader narrative of exclusion.

“Why do they want to become the party of hate? They’re hating on immigrants who are from Latin America. They’re demonstrating hatred toward Muslims. They’re demonstrating hostility toward women. They act like they don’t like gay people. Who is their party supposed to be made up of in 20 years?”

“I’m sad that they have decided to go into this dark ugly place where they see the whole world as their enemy,” Ellison continued. “And this is the thing: I don’t mind debating taxes and spending; we probably should. But they’re the party that is basically a bigoted party and they have now officially declared themselves against a whole segment of the American population, because if we said we were going to put a plank opposing Jewish law, or Catholic canon, it would be an outrage. This is also an outrage. But you know, it’ll pass.”

Ellison’s remarks echoed comments he made in July after his Minnesota colleague, GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann, accused Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood. (Bachmann’s statement was condemned by some high-profile Republicans, like Arizona Sen. John McCain.) Ellison said he’s spoken with Bachmann once since the Abedin controversy—in response to a bill she was proposing to audit Medicaid recipients—but didn’t bring up the subject with her. “I don’t find that to be a productive use of my time or hers,” Ellison said. “She whipped up a million [fundraising] dollars by promulgating hate against a religious minority. I’m not gonna talk her out of that.” His plan to settle the argument is to campaign for her opponent this fall, Minneapolis hotelier Jim Graves.

“She’s always bragging about how great the private sector is. She should join it.”

During this demonstration the EDL tried to surge through police barriers, “and someone let off a firework.” If these were anti-Fascists protesters Geller would have called the firework a “bomb.” (via. Islamophobia-Watch)

English Defence League protesters confront police in Keighley

Protesters gathered in Keighley for a demonstration by far-right campaign group the English Defence League (EDL) this afternoon. About 100 members of the organisation arrived at Church Green off North Street and were shouting and chanting.

Dozens of police officers were at the scene. Mounted police were positioned at one side of the green and officers positioned at other points in the town centre.

Members of the EDL were trying to surge through police barriers, and someone let off a firework. Demonstrators jostled officers, and more police, including mounted officers, attended the site to keep the action contained within Church Green.

Telegraph & Argus, 4 August 2012

Update:  See “Town centre demo passes without serious incident”,Keighley News, 4 August 2012