A leader of a British far-right group whose anti-Islamic posts were retweeted by U.S. President Donald Trump was arrested in Northern Ireland on Thursday minutes after being bailed over a separate incident.
Jayda Fransen, deputy leader of the fringe anti-immigrant Britain First group, appeared at a court in Belfast to face charges of using threatening, abusive or insulting words in a speech at a rally in the city in August. She was remanded on continuing bail until January 9 on condition that she does not go within 500 metres of any rally or demonstration before the case is finished. As she left court, Fransen, 31, was then arrested over a separate incident that occurred on Wednesday, a police source told Reuters. Britain First said its leader Paul Golding, 35, had also been arrested as he accompanied Fransen to the courthouse.
A police spokeswoman said a 31-year-old woman had been detained for questioning by detectives about an incident in Belfast on Wednesday. Police said a 35-year-old man had also been arrested on Thursday and that he had also been detained over a speech at the same rally as Fransen in Belfast in August. Trump’s sharing of Fransen’s anti-Muslim videos, posted on Twitter, provoked outrage in Britain last month, drawing a sharp rebuke from Prime Minister Theresa May and straining relations between two close allies.
An attempt by police to restrict Fransen’s use of social media – Twitter and Facebook – was rejected by the judge on Thursday. Fransen was fined last month after being found guilty by a court in England of religiously aggravated harassment for shouting abuse at a Muslim woman wearing a hijab. Her lawyer told Belfast Magistrates Court on Thursday she would be pleading not guilty to the charges she faces in relation to the August rally. Golding is a former senior figure in the far-right British National Party and founded Britain First in 2011. The group describes itself as a “patriotic political party and street movement”. Critics denounce it as a racist organisation.
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