Just Obey The Rules Like Everyone Else Has To!

A barrister, who asked not to be named, told The Mail on Sunday that security guards at the court behave like 'night club bouncers'. Another barrister added: 'Some are thinking of a boycott here.'

Like you'd ever pass up money. Just bloody do as you're told, you're not special.  

Defence solicitor Dele Johnson said guards wrestled him to the ground after he refused to take off his shoes in a security search. Mr Johnson, 37, said it was like the ordeal of George Floyd, whose murder by Minneapolis police, as he protested 'I can't breathe', sparked the Black Lives Matter movement.

'I never thought I'd also be saying 'I can't breathe',' said Mr Johnson. 'I was just trying to do my job.'

What do you think the security guards were trying to do then? When someone tries to circumvent security?  

Mr Johnson's identification card was checked when he arrived as a duty youth court solicitor last Wednesday. After leaving the building to have a cigarette, he agreed to a pat-down search when he returned but refused to take off his shoes, which he said resulted in four guards forcibly removing him.

With a defendant waiting for him, he re-entered the building via a side door but was blocked from entering a court and allegedly grabbed by 'four or five' guards.

'I started swinging, I felt I was fighting for my life against five men to stop them grabbing me,' he said.

You deliberately evaded security and started fighting with them when they tried to stop you. I guess standards have fallen further than anyone thought if someone like you can be a solicitor. 

Pay No Attention To The (White) Man Behind The Curtain!

Did you think they'd reached the bottom of the barrel when it came to finding things that were 'racist and sexist'? Well, think again. Next in the crosshairs: magicians! Black ones (no, not Alastair Crowley).

Cardoza is one of the US’s only Black female magicians with her own touring show. Her Black Magic Tour blends stage magic and storytelling that highlights the Black illusionists who came before her.

Cardoza first fell in love with the craft when she saw a rabbit being pulled from a hat during her first magic show at five years old. But she didn’t begin practicing until about 20 years later, citing a lack of representation that hindered her ability to see herself in the performances she loved so much.

I think anyone who uses this excuse lacks imagination. 

Bias in the industry is also influenced by public perception. A 2019 study showed that the quality of magic tricks performed by women are perceived to be worse than the same ones done by men.

Magic books also tend to cater to male performers by referencing men’s clothing, such as suit breast pockets. And magic kits for children often feature pictures of white boys on the cover. A hollowed thumb tip made from plastic, a common prop in kits that can be worn to hide objects, usually resembles the color of a white person’s finger.

“Representation is so huge,” Cardoza said, “because people don’t think they can be things unless they see them.”

And you'd think imagibation would be a prime skill for an illusionist, wouldn't you? 

For Cardoza’s part, she plans to make magic more accessible to diverse practitioners and audiences. She launched a Kickstarter campaign to create an inclusive magic kit for children that recently met its fundraising goal. The kit will include a digital app where a diverse group of magicians will teach tricks and the etiquette of stage magic, such as asking for consent before touching a participant.

Surely in the modern age, stage magic is a thing of the past anyway? 

Even When There’s No Evidence…

...that's still evidence. To some.

The driver was said to have slowed down to let Misbah Sadique, 37, and her friend Kulsum, cross the road. They were close to home in Waltham Forest and felt safe in a part of east London that they knew well. But, as they stepped out, the car in front of them suddenly, inexplicably, accelerated, one of the women later alleged. It is said that Kulsum was thrown to the ground by the force of the impact and that Misbah was dragged under the vehicle. She claims she was lucky to escape with breaks to her right ankle and foot, ribs and right arm, on top of extensive bruising and abrasions. Three weeks later, she remains in hospital, traumatised and facing a long road to recovery.

The story doesn't mention whther this occurred at a crossing. Which is strange. But the police acted promptly. 

The driver, who did not leave the scene, gave a statement by the side of the road and the police have categorised what happened as a road traffic incident. No arrests were made.

Just one of those things. But wait! 

But Misbah and Kulsum had both been wearing hijabs.

Aha! The game (of victimhood) is afoot! 

Misbah, who has given a statement to the police in recent days, is calling, with the support of her family and the charity, The Islamophobia Response Unit, for the incident on 1 February to be further investigated as a potential hate crime.

Well, sorry, but they already did. And found no evidence of that at all. 

The Met said officers did open a hate crime investigation in response to concerns raised with them. “However, our investigation – including viewing of CCTV – leads us to believe that the women were not in any way deliberately targeted,” said Ch Supt Simon Crick, who is in charge of policing Waltham Forest.

“This was an unfortunate road traffic collision.”

The police said they had asked specialists to review the case as well but that they had come to the same conclusion.

 QED? Well, no, Reader, of course not.

But that Misbah should consider someone capable of running her down purely due to her faith might be in itself be regarded as a damning insight into modern Britain.

Well, it's a damning insight into something, all right. But I really don't think it's modern Britain.  

He Who Pays The Piper, Robert...

A particularly troubling aspect of Gay’s resignation concerns the apparent clout of wealthy Harvard alumni​...

You want their money, and they want...well, not to be hectored and told black is really white. And while you need their money, they get to call the tune.  

I can understand the frustrations of these donors. But to use their influence to force the ouster of these university presidents is an abuse of power. It sets a dangerous precedent of mega-donor intrusion into university life. It endangers the autonomy of America’s universities to determine for themselves how to strike the right balance between freedom of expression and hateful speech.

But they aren't using that autonomy properly, are they? They are taking that money and spitting in the faces of those who are giving it. And they've decided enough is enough. 

As have I. What is it? Is it ''We have to employ more smart well-educated black minorities to show us their worth' or is it 'Oh noes, our smart well-educated black minorities have fallen into a trap so obvious a child could see it coming'..?

It can't really be both, can it? 

The core problem is that one of the major jobs of today’s university presidents is to solicit money.

It does make the world go round, after all... 

As a Jew, I also cannot help but worry that the actions of these donors – many of them Jewish, many from Wall Street – could fuel the very antisemitism they claim to oppose, based on the age-old stereotype of wealthy Jewish bankers controlling the world.

If they really were doing that, Ms Gay would still be in the kitchen or on reception. or wearing a janitor's uniform. Assuming she's smart enough to know which end of the broom to push.  

No, This Is Not A Failure Of The Justice System...

“I thought any sensible judge would dismiss the charge completely. It’s just asinine,” Moore said. “There were failures in the criminal justice system all the way around.”

...this is the justice system working as it should. To prevent First World countries looking (and smelling) like Third World ones.

The child’s mother has said her son urinated behind her vehicle while she was visiting a lawyer’s office in Senatobia, Mississippi, on 10 August. Police officers in the town of about 8,100 residents, 40 miles (64km) south of Memphis, Tennessee, saw the child urinating and arrested him. Officers put him in a squad car and took him to the police station.

Public urination is an offence. Don't want to be arrested for it? Don't do it. Ten years old is surely old enough to learn this. 

It was initially unclear whether prosecutors would take up the case. Moore said he had planned on going to trial, but shifted strategy after prosecutors threatened to upgrade the charges and the child’s family chose to accept the probation sentence because it would not appear on the boy’s criminal record. The 10-year-old is required to check in with a probation officer once per month.

In the States, they probably have those in schools too, as well as police officers. But what's an attorney to do in a case like this?

"Race Card?"

"That'll do nicely..." 

Moore said he doesn’t believe a white child would have been arrested under similar circumstances.“I don’t think there is a male in America who has not discreetly urinated in public,” Moore said.

Does that make it right, then? 

“Sentencing anyone, let alone a young child, to probation under these facts is sure to add to the trauma and denigration this child has suffered since their arrest,” Ndiaye said. “This is all the more proof that we need to severely limit police interactions with civilians, from petty retail theft to traffic stops and even so-called ‘quality of life’ offenses. For Black people in America, it is a matter of life and death.”

Oh, please! Could you lay on the hyperbole any thicker? How exactly are the police supposed to do their job without interacting with civilians? 

Advice Column Is Missing The Most Obvious Piece Of Advice...

I work in heritage in a rural area and am a minority in my workplace and local community. I really love living close to nature and what I do for work, but I feel that I don’t belong here. I grew up in a nearby rural county where we were the only Black family. Race was almost never mentioned by the white people around me...

Well, that's good, it means no-one cares that you're black, right? 

...but I now realise I was treated as an outsider my whole childhood.

Oh! So...how did you come to 'realise' this? 

I have over the past couple of years – after reading up about anti-racism – started to challenge the everyday racism that I had previously ignored. This has caused a massive backlash against me professionally with the resulting victimisation hounding me out of a job I loved at a large heritage organisation. I have learned the consequences of speaking out on racism and discrimination is to have your life and livelihood destroyed.

How will Sisonke Msimang (Yes, Reader, 'tis she) answer this one?

...when you ask about the ethics of telling “people to challenge racism when the power balance is so skewed that challenging may result in greater harm to the individual”, I hear this not as cynicism but as exhaustion. So many of us have been wounded by our attempts to stand up to racism that it sometime feels unwise to continue.

Ah. Of course. Reinforce and join in with the perpetual victimhood. I should have guessed, shouldn't I? 

One of the sadnesses of modern life is that, as James Baldwin has said, it can feel like, “your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world […]”. And yet of course, despite the many problems facing Black people around the world today, history tells us that nothing we are experiencing is new.

*yawns* 

You say you feel like you are the minority in every area of life, and I can understand why. It’s because you have been minoritized — that isn’t okay that you have been rendered a minority by virtue of processes of domination that place you at the bottom of the social ladder. I hope that knowing this helps you to feel less alone.

Why not tell her to go where she isn't a minority, if it bothers her so much? You can go with her, if you like... 

Yup, This'll Fix Racism, No Question...

Phrases and words that link negativity with blackness and positivity with whiteness – such as “black mood”, “dark times” or “whiter than white” – reinforce racist connotations and should be avoided, an anti-racism initiative has recommended.

Oh. This again... 

Dr Sanjiv Lingayah, the director of Reframing Race, a non-profit research-based initiative, and co-author of the report, said: “The conversation on racism is stuck. With our trailblazing research we have been able to show how different messages on race and racism affect a mainstream audience.

“The upside is that new ways of talking about racism can lead to new ways of listening. This guidance provides a foundation from which advocates can be confident they are contributing positively to discussion, avoiding pitfalls and tropes, and moving others towards an anti-racist position.”

It doesn't sound very new to me. Does it to you, Reader? 

'Agony Aunts' Are Somewhat...Different...In The Dear Old 'Guardian'

*blinks* 

One of the common mistakes white people make is to overestimate their importance in the lives and imaginations of people of colour.

Could that possibly be because race baiters like you never shut up about it? 

Racism matters, and microaggressions are important because they often impede our ability to function in the world with ease by stopping us from conducting basic activities like driving, shopping, or even just walking down the street.

*skepticism intensifies* 

But at the level of whether a particular white person is interested in dating us or not, I think you would have a hard time finding any woman of colour who would be even mildly concerned about this.

Sisonke is just brimming with compassion for us honkeys, isn't she?

I feel bad for him: one of the burdens of whiteness is how much it stunts the lives of those who buy into its deceits.

It's not the first thing that springs to mind when 'the burden of whiteness' crops up, actually... 

The bigger question you need to ask yourself is whether your values and his still align. Surely this is not the only area where his attitudes on race show up.

Yes, it must be racism that drives sexual preferences. I mean, what else could it possibly be? 

A Dispatch From Fantasy Land...

To us, white supremacy is not just an armed white man with a swastika tattooed on his forehead. It is the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (called by then senator Joe Biden, who drafted the legislation, “Biden’s bill”) juxtaposed with the Anti-drug Abuse Act of 1986 – which together led to the mass incarceration of, principally, Black men.

There was something else that led to their incarceration, though, wasn't there? Like, their inability to avoid breaking those laws?

White supremacy is not just Combat 18 in combat gear: it is a homeless Black man with mental health issues being choked to death on a subway train by a white marine veteran, members of a Fox News TV audience cheering at the report, and the attitude that sees the former soldier premptively hailed a hero and bolstered with public donations of $2m towards his legal fees.

Yes, clearly, it's only OK to applaud a criminal when they are black... 

Some of the foremost proponents of white supremacy are Black and brown. For some it is so normalised that they struggle to understand a world without it. Others understand what happens to those who oppose white supremacy and are rightfully scared.

What do they have to be scared about? Not getting invited to write nonsense like this in national newspapers or hector the audience on national TV? 

Of Course It Is, Sweetie...

The star of Netflix's much-talked about 'Queen Cleopatra' docudrama says the furore over her casting as the Egyptian ruler is 'fundamentally racist'.#

Pulling out the RaceCard™ is the automatic reflex, after all... 

Adele addressed the the high-profile criticism around being a black actress playing Cleopatra, saying: 'It would be naive of me to say that I didn't expect anything at all, but I didn't expect the scale of it.

'And I think it's distressing for anybody to receive any level of abuse, let alone the scale and the nature of what I've received, which is fundamentally racist, all of it.

'People are talking about the wrong things. Yes, we don't know where her mother was from or her paternal grandmother, but also the show is about so much more than the question mark over her race.'

You don't get to dictate what people talk about. And by casting you, that's what the makers of this show have done. No-one else did it. So you're perpetuating it. 

'If you watch it is a very small part of the conversation really, this is about the fullness of who this woman was and she was a human being and she shouldn't be reduced to her race any more than I should or anybody should.'

You've guaranteed it, actually. 

Adele also talked about the support of Hollywood actress Jada Pinkett Smith, who narrates the series and is its executive producer.

'She is an African Queen and I feel like it just couldn't be more pertinent and important that she's the figurehead of this. She's an icon.'

She's not African, she's not a queen either. What she is, is a Hollywood elite who knows exactly what she's doing to get her show watched. That it'll be for the wrong reasons matters not a jot, does it? 

Remember, These People Are The 'Lifeblood Of London's Restaurant Trade'...

Kesarajith Perera was left red faced after taking a tumble on a patch of oil at The George pub in Harrow, London, prompting his manager Hesham Badra to laugh out loud at his expense.

Mr Perera was later dismissed over an unrelated matter, prompting him to sue Stonegate Pub Company Ltd claiming racial and religious harassment and cite Mr Badra's response to his accident as evidence.

Well, of course, because he no doubt did it with our money! But once again, he met someone not prepared to be swayed: 

But employment judge David Maxwell threw out his case, saying that the 'slapstick element' of someone falling over was likely to provoke laughter.

'Whilst it might be tempting to hope that one colleague would only ever react in a sympathetic way towards the misfortune of another, common experience suggests this is not always the case,' he said.

Hurrah! But what was the 'unrelated matter' that saw him canned, anyway? 

In October, following failure to provide documentation for his proof of right to work in the UK, he was dismissed, prompting him to take the pub's owners to a tribunal complaining of racism.

Oh... 

Mr Perera's additional complaint that he had been given the 'full time role of cleaning toilets' was also dismissed. Judge Maxwell added: 'Cleaning the toilets could scarcely be made into a full-time role.

'Mr Perera's objection was the same as before - this was an unpleasant duty he did not think he should have to carry out.'

Well, indeed! Probably objected to having to wash his hands before waiting tables as well... 

Dismissing his claims of harassment, Judge Maxwell said: 'None of the treatment complained of had the proscribed purpose or effect.

'The conduct itself, objectively, came nowhere near having the proscribed effect, and his view of matters was unreasonable.'

But he did get a consolation prize!

However, the tribunal did rule in his favour regarding unlawful deductions of wages and awarded him £1,426.11.

He was also handed £908.91 for the pub's 'abysmal' paperwork after he was not provided with a written particulars of employment.

Yes, let's all go back to working in offices and paying fortunes for commuting to keep these businesses propped up, shall we? 

'Quick, Blame The Far Right!'

Not previously high on the agenda of voters more concerned with a crumbling, two-tier healthcare system and a chronic housing crisis, a recent poll found that a small majority (56%) of Irish respondents believe the country has accepted too many refugees over the past year.

Ooh, must be racism! 

Ireland is currently housing about 74,000 asylum applicants, 49,227 of whom are Ukrainians.

Oh. OK, must be over-estimation of the true figures! 

A year ago, the total number was 7,500.

Oh. Errr...? The mythical 'far right', then? 

Now anti-refugee sentiment has exploded amid a devastating housing crisis, made worse by the destabilising effects of public sector cuts and stagnant wages.

These protests have drawn from the same rhetorical, tactical, and ideological energy as the recent anti-refugee riot in Knowsley, England.

Imported from Britain, no less! 

Preying on these fears, Irish far-right activists are disseminating false information about criminal activities. Proliferating through social media on any given day are rumours of sexual assault or the harassment of women by migrants, or grainy, unverifiable video clips of the same.

Ah, so when you can't deny that incidents have actually happened because there's video evidence, just whine about the qaulity of the video instead. Genius! 

In reality, the far-right menace remains small.

So why are you getting hot under the collar about it? 

But the spread of the contagion could provide a challenge from the right as Sinn Féin feathers itself for power for the first time in the Irish republic . Growing anti-migrant sentiment could benefit the more hardline immigration policies of parties such as Fine Gael. Only time will tell, however, if the anti-immigration consensus seen in large parts of Britain can be replicated in Ireland.

If the issues you decry as 'nonsense' keep up, you'll see it all right. 

Why Is The Answer Never 'I'll Start Up My Own!'..?

Kemi Alemoru on a controvery that had, admittedly, passed me by...

To understand the viral outrage and fierce gatekeeping over what at first appears to be an innocuous beauty tip, you need to understand some crucial context​...

Oh, you'll never guess..! 

...the beauty industry is a notoriously inequitable space for black women.

*sighs* 

Being able to walk into a high-street beauty store such as Boots or Superdrug and find products that cater to darker skin tones and afro hair textures is only a very recent phenomenon.

As commenters at Tim Worstall's take on this point out there's good reason for this, and the impression she gives is a false one anyway...

This lack of availability doesn’t reflect a lack of demand.

If there's a demand, why don't you fill it? 

Black hair shops are rarely black-owned, and their products often aren’t either (an irony highlighted in the new ITV drama Riches).

So the complaint has changed from 'Not enough!' to 'Not us!'..? 

Black women’s frustration (Ed: ah, the Royal 'We' here?) with the beauty industry is about far more than the inconvenience of having to travel further for the right product and paying a premium for it.

I think that's your frustration. Or did 'black women' elect you to speak for them? 

Black women are just tired: tired of being mistreated, and tired of being undervalued by the retailers and brands that market to and profit from them.

I'll echo Tim. Sod off. And when you get there, sod off again! 

It Seems The 'One Drop' Concept Is Alive And Well...

Ros Griffiths, a 57-year-old community organiser in London, was initially hopeful when Meghan Markle married into the British royal family. She regarded their wedding and Meghan’s initial acceptance into the family as a step in the right direction for the institution.

This is Ros Griffiths. 

This is Meghan Markle.

 See any resemblance? Nope, me neither!

“That’s what I thought initially. Then it went all downhill very quickly,” said Griffiths. “I think [the documentary] further compounded what I suspected all along – that this family that lives off the public purse is not reflective of society.”

I didn't realise that 'race grifter' wasn't somehow also 'living off the public purse'. Who knew? Ming you, she's not the only one...

Natasha Mulenga, a 32-year-old writer and host of the podcast A Soulful Storm, said: “It’s changed my opinion more towards the negative. So much information has come out that really has made me doubt whether the institution can be reformed.”

She also pointed to the recent incident involving Ngozi Fulani, the black charity boss who said she was repeatedly questioned about her background by the late queen’s former lady-in-waiting.

Mmmm, yeah, about that, Natasha... 

Stereotypes Always Have Some Basis In Fact...

Ms Thermidor said soon afterwards that she recorded Betsy Bassis, who was chief executive at the time, having a private conversation with then chairwoman Millie Banerjee, during which the latter seemingly played down the matter.

Ms Banerjee said the situation was ‘high risk’ for NHSBT but that she could not ‘fix the ravages or consequences of 300 years of slavery and 200 years of empire’. She also talked of there being a ‘nasty dichotomy’ between different ethnic groups, with Asians considering themselves ‘well above the blacks’.

Ms Banerjee stepped down in August last year. She denies acting or talking in a racist manner.

Is that not the case, then?  

An external report into grievances raised by Ms Thermidor found she was not treated unfavourably because of her race but that she and others ‘did suffer harassment in NHSBT because of their race’.

Ms Thermidor resigned in February last year. Both Ms Bassis and Ms Banerjee have vowed to contest her claims at the tribunal.

The Only 'Human Error' Here Is In Cowering Before The Karens, Tesco...

Tesco has apologised to shoppers after...

Out of date food? Dirty store? Rude staff?

...'racist' security tags were placed on cosmetics for black skin but not lighter skin tones in one of its stores.

*sighs* Buckle up, we're going in.... 

Mother-of-three Natalie Westgate complained to the chain after she spotted the security measures on the makeup, calling it 'racist' and 'absolutely disgusting'.

'I understand you have to security box items but do you think it is ok to only have the dark range security boxed and not the entire range,' she said to Tesco.

'Please ask your race and ethnicity network and Black Voices Advisory Group what they think to security only boxing the dark range then get back to me.'

The utter arrogance in that demand is breathtaking. But sadly only to be expected of someone who doesn't even pause to consider the absurdity of having a 'race and ethnicity network' in the first place...

The supermarket responded first on Twitter and said 'stores may sometimes use security tags on items which have recently been subject to theft and the decision to do so changes from store to store'.

Brave of the corporate Twitter-wrangler to use facts and logic to bat away the annoying Karen. But futile, because there's never just one. They hunt in packs. And the avalanche of manufactured outrage reached the eyes of a manager trained to be obsequious in the face of anything 'racist':

A spokesperson for Tesco apologised and said that it was an example of human error, and they should not have been tagged.

'It’s really important to us that Tesco is a place where everyone feels welcome, and the tags have now been removed,' they told The Sun.

So there you have it, thieves and shoplifters; Tesco wants you to 'feel welcome'. You know where to go now, don't you? 

Only One In Four..?

I'd have put it a lot higher if asked to guess...

One in four councils is promoting ‘highly contentious’ race theories in schools, a major report warns today. Town halls are using controversial terms including ‘white privilege’ and ‘unconscious bias’ in teacher training materials, research has found.

If only our 'conservative' government were as interested in this as they are in fighting like rabid weasels to get into the top spot, eh? 

Tony Sewell, who led last year’s landmark government inquiry into racism that was castigated by the Left, added: ‘As I found as chair of the Commission for Ethnic and Racial Disparities, and as this work underlines, it is increasingly apparent that a single, contentious interpretation of anti-racism has taken hold across many of our country’s institutions. Uncovering the ideological drift in schools is of vital importance both for creating a more balanced discussion on race, and for protecting the integrity of education itself.’

Oh, Tony, I think the integrity of education is a lost cause. Don't you? 

DDU began investigating after learning that Brighton & Hove City Council was recommending pupils as young as five be taught that they are either racists or victims.

Or in the case of cricketer Azeem Rafiq, both!

"Do Something About Knife Crime....Wait, Not That!"

The Met says the scheme, known as Project Alpha, helps fight serious violence, with the intelligence gathered identifying offenders and securing the removal of videos glorifying stabbings and shootings from platforms such as YouTube.

The unit, comprising more than 30 staff and launched in 2019 with Home Office funding, scours social media sites looking at drill music videos and other content.

Who could possibly object to th...

Oh. Of course.

Stafford Scott, a veteran community campaigner, said he feared the project was part of a continued assault on young black people.

Only the ones that want to shoot or stab their fellow black people, Stafford. Are you in favour of that, then?

“Young people use social media to magnify their lived experience. It is a tool for projection, you can’t rely on it for detection,” he said. “It is racially motivated, racially driven and involves racial stereotypes.”

Ever wonder why there's no unit set up to monitor young people of other origins? Why there's no Portugese, Spanish or Samoan drill videos?

Maybe You Should Change Your Name..?

Because there's nothing liberal about this:

The human rights group Liberty is threatening to sue the government and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) over the bitterly contested law of joint enterprise, arguing that it is discredited and racist in the way the authorities pursue it.

Or is it simply that the gang culture it seeks to prevent is more prevalent within certain races? Chicken/egg here... 

There have long been accusations, supported by academic studies and parliamentary inquiries, that the gang label is attached disproportionately and without adequate evidence to black and minority-ethnic young men.

Right, sure, ok... 

Lana Adamou, a lawyer at Liberty, said: “We all want our communities to be safe, and for our laws to treat us equally. But joint enterprise is overwhelmingly used against people from marginalised communities, especially young black men, and drags people unfairly into the criminal justice system.

“It’s completely unacceptable that there is still no official data being recorded about how the doctrine is used and who it is used against. By failing to do so, the justice system has been recklessly sweeping thousands of young black men into the prison system.”

Are we supposed to believe that the police simply arrest black and minority ethnic bus drivers, librarians and chemists who just happen to be present on the street when a gang of animals chase down a rival gang member with knives then?  

These Places Are Exactly Where Intelligence Gathering Is Needed...

A mosque attended by Manchester Arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi and his family says it has suffered 'smearing and demonisation' after claims it turned a 'blind eye' to extremism.

That hardly makes it unique... 

Earlier this month lawyers for the families of the bereaved said it was accepted the mosque was in no way linked to the bombing or the radicalisation of Salman Abedi, who carried out the deadly bomb attack after an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May 2017. But it was claimed the mosque had hosted extreme Islamist sermons, failed to condemn violence and 'buried its head in the sand' over radicals in its congregation.

Gosh, how, err, unusual. But no doubt this will be dismissed as the ravings of 'Islamophobes', right? 

Well, it's going to be difficult... 

An Imam at the mosque, Mohammed El-Saeiti, who delivered a sermon condemning terror groups, told the inquiry trustees believed speaking up against terrorists would 'provoke' its sympathisers and supporters. The mosque then failed to support him when he faced a petition for his removal signed by, among others, Ramadan Abedi, father of the bomber. He said after the bombing the mosque's solicitor, a Mr Hafezi, pressured him to not mention the Abedis' links to the mosque.

Heh! 

The statement said it had tried to keep politics out of the mosque, adding: 'Mosques are places of worship and should not become places where intelligence gathering on people's lives and politics should take place.'

Sounds like these places are exactly where it should take place to me...