A British political party calling itself Class War had a hipster cafe attacked simply because because the two owners of Cereal Killer Cafe saw fit to charge rich prices for a single bowl of cereal. Now, Class War has announced plans for a second so-called “F**k Parade,” and they plan on shutting down the Jack The Ripper museum on Cable St, London due to its alleged “glorification of sexual violence.”
In a related report by the Inquisitr , the Cereal Killer Cafe is seen as a symbol of gentrification, which is when the wealthy buy and renovate houses and stores in deteriorated urban neighborhoods like the East End in London. While property values do increase based upon such community improvements, gentrification is seen as part of class warfare since the process can displace low-income affordable housing.
“Our communities are being ripped apart – by Russian oligarchs, Saudi Sheiks, Israeli scumbag property developers, Texan oil-money twats and our own home-grown Eton toffs. Soon this City will be an unrecognizable, bland, yuppie infested wasteland with no room for normal (and not so normal) people like us,” Class War said on their Facebook page.
Numbering around 200 people strong, the Class War supporters grabbed their banners and torches, put on pig masks, and marched toward their target. Gary Keery, who founded the Cereal Killer Cafe with his twin brother, Alan, described the attack on his business by the so-called “F**k Parade,” which left customers, including children, “terrified for their lives.”
“It was intense. It wasn’t expected. I couldn’t believe it was happening. I wasn’t there at the time, but I came down as soon as possible to help. They had pigs heads and torches. They wrote the word ‘scum.’”
According to The Guardian , police officers said one of their men suffered an injury to his face from a thrown bottle. One protester was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage, although others broke into the cereal shop and threw a smoke bomb along with red paint and cereal.
A day later, Cereal Killer cafe was back up and running just like normal, but Class War managed to get their point across about inequality in London. The store generated controversy when it first opened because a simple bowl of cereal can cost as much as $6.68, and some questioned whether the low-income residents of East London could actually afford to buy breakfast at Cereal Killer Cafe.
Still, Keery says he does not understand why his small business was targeted by the anarchist political group, and he claimed the attack was simply “senseless violence.”
“We’ve had some letters through the letterbox saying ‘die hipsters’ and stuff but nothing to this extreme,” he said. “It just doesn’t make sense.”
Although the issue of gentrification explains why Class War had the hipster cafe attacked, their statement of intent provides further insight into the anarchist group’s political strategy.
“There is a class war waging and we are losing it. The rich are getting richer and the gilded elite who have ruled us since Norman times remain in power and dominate land ownership just as they did when they first robbed it,” their website says. “We are [standing Class War candidates in order] to launch a furious and coordinated political offensive against the ruling class with the opportunity an election gives us to talk politics to our class. We in no way see the election as an alternative to direct action. By the brick and the ballot.”
Their policies are short and to the point. They call for double the dole, pension, and all other benefits for workers. In addition, they want a 50 percent mansion tax on the rich, and they desire to abolish the British monarchy and all public schools.
But even some of Class War’s followers questioned whether having the hipster cafe attacked was the best plan, with some claiming that banks or other big businesses should be targeted, not a small business like Cereal Killer Cafe. Critics on Facebook have been even harsher, calling for the anarchist political group to get out of the East End entirely.
“You literally just destroy s**t without providing any real solutions to any of the problems you protest against,” said Facebook user Joe Collins. “Your policies page is literally six lines with no actual explanation of how you mean to try and implement these policies. If you want to do something good for our community stop smashing up the small businesses that provide employment and open up soups kitchens, food banks or donate to libraries and schools.”
The planned attack on the Jack the Ripper museum in London also just happens to coincide with a Tory party conference. The announcement has drawn plenty of critics already, with some claiming that Class War should go after “something more important” than “hipster cafes and tourist traps.”
What do you think?
[Images via Facebook/Class War]