Remember Donald Trump Sharing Those Racist Britain First Videos? The Groups Leaders Just Got Jailed
Back in November 2017, U.S. president Donald Trump caused a storm when he reposted videos by racist hate group Britain First. President Trump shared several videos purportedly showing Muslim men committing violent crimes, including throwing a young man from the top of a building. Trump shared the videos with his 48 million Twitter followers, presumably to back his plans for a border wall and a ban on travel from a host of majority Muslim countries. As reported by the Inquisitr at the time, the president’s actions were widely condemned for stirring up racial hatred and caused a rift with British Prime Minister Theresa May.
The videos that President Trump retweeted were originally shared by Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of Britain First, a far-right white supremacist group. After Trump shared the fake videos, Fransen praised his actions and thanked him for his support. President Trump later denied knowing that Britain First was a race hate group, and to give him the benefit of doubt it is probably impossible for the president to be aware of every hate group in foreign countries.
However, Trump can be left in no doubt now as the leaders of Britain First, which does have links to U.S. white supremacist groups, have now been imprisoned for anti-Muslim hate crimes in the United Kingdom.
Britain First Leaders Paul Golding and Jayda Fransen Jailed For Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes
As reported by the Guardian, Britain First leaders Paul Golding and Jayda Fransen appeared in court in Kent, England, yesterday. Golding and Fransen were charged with religiously aggravated harassment against Muslim men. As reported by the BBC, Golding and Fransen were arrested after targeting the homes of people they believed to have had connections to an earlier trial where three Muslim men and a teenager were convicted of rape and jailed.
The Britain First leaders faced a total of seven charges. Fransen was convicted of three charges and was imprisoned for 36 weeks. Golding was convicted of a single charge and jailed for 18 weeks.
As reported by the Sun, the judge said that Golding and Fransen “demonstrated hostility” towards Muslims and the Muslim faith.
“I have no doubt it was their joint intention to use the facts of the [previous] case for their own political ends.”
“It was a campaign to draw attention to the race, religion and immigrant background of the defendants.”
BREAKING: Britain First leader and deputy leader found guilty of hate crimehttps://t.co/eQHKvuo8je pic.twitter.com/9emG7iWYXp
— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) March 7, 2018
Britain First is a quasi-political group in the United Kingdom. In the past, they have used the murder of soldier Lee Rigby, and the Royal British Legion’s poppy appeal to drum up support for their message of hate. The group even expressed support for the murder of a Muslim Man outside Finsbury Park mosque. Britain First also has links to “loyalist” terrorist groups in Northern Ireland.
