The leader of Britain First was arrested today as he arrived in Belfast to support his deputy at an ‘abusive speech’ trial over a rally they held in Northern Ireland.
Paul Golding was detained after he arrived at the city’s magistrates court with Jayda Fransen, who was herself charged with using ‘threatening, abusive, insulting words or behaviour’ after she spoke at the demonstration on August 6.
A police spokesman said: ‘Detectives investigating speeches made at the Northern Ireland Against Terrorism Rally on Sunday 6th August this year have arrested a 35 year old man today, Thursday, 14 December in the Belfast area.
‘He has been taken to Musgrave PSNI Station for interview. There are no further details at this stage. ‘
Britain First deputy leader Paul Golding (left) was arrested after he arrived at Belfast Magistrates Court this morning with deputy leader Jayda Fransen (right)
Ms Fransen and Golding were in the city in August for a demonstration by around 50 people calling themselves ‘Northern Ireland Against Terrorism’.
The demonstration took place on the same day as a republican march organised by the Anti-Internment League to mark the use of detention without trial by the British Army during the height of the Troubles in 1971.
She was later arrested by Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers in Bromley, south east London and taken to Belfast for questioning.
Describing her arrest, she later said: ‘I was escorted in a police van with four officers up to Liverpool to catch a ferry.”
She said police questioned her for around three to four hours over allegations she had been ‘anti-Islamic’ and released her after she was charged.
Fransen faces a charge over a speech at a rally the far-Right group held in August
An unidentified man with Fransen attempted to shield her from cameras as she arrived
Fransen was thrown into the international spotlight when US President Donald Trump shared three videos she had posted on her Twitter feed.
The first was a clip supposedly showing a Muslim migrant beating up a Dutch boy on crutches.
Seconds later, retweeted a video showing what she claims to be a Muslim man destroying a statue of the Virgin Mary.
And the third video posted in quick succession to his 43.6million followers was by far the most disturbing – a video showing an alleged Islamic group throwing a teenager off a roof before beating him to death.
The President’s re-tweeting of the videos led to international outcry and prompted renewed calls for his planned visit to the UK to be cancelled.
Fransen’s group have been widely accused of Islamophobia over their rallies and protests
Donald Trump retweeted three of Fransen’s anti-Muslim messages last month. In the case of this video, Dutch police said the attacked filmed was a Dutch national and not a migrant
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