Black Lives Matter activists descend on Tottenham police station to support rapper Wretch 32 after his father was Tasered by officers - in protest nine years after death of Mark Duggan

  • Activists spoke to crowds in front Tottenham Police Station in London today
  • They were standing near signs reading 'defund the police, invest in our lives'
  • Mark Duggan was shot dead by an officer in Tottenham in 2011 sparking protests
  • Musician Wretch 32, was seen speaking to crowds alongside his father Saturday

Crowds of people descended on a London police station to support rapper Wretch 32 - whose father was Tasered by police - and to protest 'police racism, police violence and police impunity'.

The crowd gathered peacefully in scorching temperatures to hear speeches and demonstrate outside Tottenham Police Station.

Activists spoke to crowds near signs reading 'defund the police, invest in our lives' and '1,750 deaths in police custody or following contact with police in England and Wales since 1990'.    

Musician Wretch 32, whose real name is Jermaine Scott, posted a video on Twitter of his father Millard Scott, 62, falling downstairs after being Tasered by officers in north London in April.

Wretch 32 could be seen mingling in the crowd on Saturday, as protesters spoke of their own treatment at the hands of police. 

He told the crowd: 'I am saddened that we have to be standing here today. I feel that as a community, as a people, that we are over-policed and under-protected.

'We don't feel protected. My dad did not feel protected. The police are supposed to protect and serve. When they came into the house, what exactly were they serving with that Taser?'

Crowds of people descended on a London police station to support rapper Wretch 32 (pictured) - whose father was Tasered by police - and to protest 'police racism, police violence and police impunity'

Crowds of people descended on a London police station to support rapper Wretch 32 (pictured) - whose father was Tasered by police - and to protest 'police racism, police violence and police impunity'

Wretch 32 (left) could be seen addressing the crowd alongside his father Millard Scott, 62, on Saturday, as protesters spoke of their own treatment at the hands of police

Wretch 32 (left) could be seen addressing the crowd alongside his father Millard Scott, 62, on Saturday, as protesters spoke of their own treatment at the hands of police

He said people have 'no trust in the system' and it is a struggle with the police which the community faced since he was a child.

Then, putting an arm around his father, he said: 'My dad stands here today. In my eyes he is lucky to be alive.' 

The crowd called for officers to stop what they called the over-policing of black communities, along with the use of excessive force, Tasers, stop-and-search and the disproportionate use of handcuffing during arrest.

A list was pinned to a barrier outside the police station featuring the names of people - both black and white - who have died after coming into contact with police, dating back to the 1980s.

Crowds of people descended on a London police station to protest 'police racism, police violence and police impunity' nine years after Mark Duggan was killed

Crowds of people descended on a London police station to protest 'police racism, police violence and police impunity' nine years after Mark Duggan was killed

Wretch 32, whose real name is Jermaine Scott, posted a video on Twitter of his father Millard Scott, 62, (pictured together today) falling downstairs after being Tasered by officers in north London in April

Wretch 32, whose real name is Jermaine Scott, posted a video on Twitter of his father Millard Scott, 62, (pictured together today) falling downstairs after being Tasered by officers in north London in April

The crowd (some participants pictured) called for officers to stop what they called the over-policing of black communities, along with the use of excessive force, Tasers, stop-and-search and the disproportionate use of handcuffing during arrest

The crowd (some participants pictured) called for officers to stop what they called the over-policing of black communities, along with the use of excessive force, Tasers, stop-and-search and the disproportionate use of handcuffing during arrest

Crowds descended on Tottenham Police Station for a demonstration in north London today

Crowds descended on Tottenham Police Station for a demonstration in north London today

Banners called for 'justice' for Cynthia Jarrett, Joy Gardner, Mark Duggan, Smiley Culture, Roger Sylvester, Ian Tomlinson and Jean Charles de Menezes. 

The protest came nine years after Mr Duggan, 29, was shot dead in Tottenham after armed officers intercepted a minicab he was travelling in on the basis of intelligence that he was carrying a gun.  

A pistol was later found around seven metres away from the minicab.

Mr Duggan's shooting in August 2011, by an officer known only as V53, sparked riots in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and other English cities for nearly a week.   

Messages which read 'The Met Police must cease and desist' and 'Defund the police, invest in our lives' were pinned to a door at the police station today.

Mark Duggan, 29, (pictured) was shot dead in Tottenham after armed officers intercepted a minicab he was travelling in on the basis of intelligence that he was carrying a gun

Mark Duggan, 29, (pictured) was shot dead in Tottenham after armed officers intercepted a minicab he was travelling in on the basis of intelligence that he was carrying a gun

Mina Agyepong, 42, told the crowd her 12-year-old son Kai 'is traumatised and he is angry' after armed police raided her north London home late at night in July to arrest him.

He had been playing with a toy gun. Suspicions had been raised by a passer-by who said they saw a black male holding a firearm on the sofa.

She said: 'I worry now what his relationship is going to be with the police - that sense of distrust. Stop criminalising our children.'

The 1985 Tottenham riots began when Broadwater Farm resident Ms Jarrett died of heart failure after four policemen burst into her home during a raid on October 5.

Her son fought back tears as he told the crowd: 'I get emotional when I think about my mother because I love her.

'We have all got to stick together and keep on marching. We have got to keep on protesting because this is for all of our kids and our future. They can tear down your family from top to bottom.'

Winston Silcott was one of the Tottenham Three, alongside Engin Raghip and Mark Braithwaite, convicted in 1987 of PC Keith Blakelock's murder during the riots.

Their convictions were quashed by the Court of Appeal in 1991, after questions were raised about the way police interviews were carried out.

Mr Silcott helped steward Saturday's demonstration.

Scotland Yard said officers had gone to the address of Wretch 32's father in Tottenham on April 21 as part of an operation to tackle a drugs supply linked to serious violence in Haringey.

The police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), has said it will not investigate the incident and the matter should be dealt with within the Met Police.

Winston Silcott (pictured) was one of the Tottenham Three, alongside Engin Raghip and Mark Braithwaite, convicted in 1987 of PC Keith Blakelock's murder during the riots

Winston Silcott (pictured) was one of the Tottenham Three, alongside Engin Raghip and Mark Braithwaite, convicted in 1987 of PC Keith Blakelock's murder during the riots

Protesters gathered outside Tottenham Police Station today to protest 'police racism, police violence and police impunity'

Protesters gathered outside Tottenham Police Station today to protest 'police racism, police violence and police impunity'

One demonstrator clutched a sign reading 'no justice no peace, defund the police'

One demonstrator clutched a sign reading 'no justice no peace, defund the police'

Activists spoke to crowds while standing in front of signs reading 'defund the police, invest in our lives' and '1,750 deaths in police custody or following contact with police in England and Wales since 1990'

Activists spoke to crowds while standing in front of signs reading 'defund the police, invest in our lives' and '1,750 deaths in police custody or following contact with police in England and Wales since 1990'

Tottenham Rights, The Monitoring Group, Black Lives Matter UK and Stopwatch also co-organised the demonstration (attendees pictured) and all participants were urged to obey social distancing rules

Tottenham Rights, The Monitoring Group, Black Lives Matter UK and Stopwatch also co-organised the demonstration (attendees pictured) and all participants were urged to obey social distancing rules

An activist spoke to crowds outside Tottenham Police Station. Signs were seen stuck to a door

An activist spoke to crowds outside Tottenham Police Station. Signs were seen stuck to a door

A woman wears a mask with a fist, a symbol synonymous with the Black Lives Matter movement

A woman wears a mask with a fist, a symbol synonymous with the Black Lives Matter movement

Deputy Police Commissioner Sir Stephen House told a London Assembly Police and Crime Committee in July that the IOPC had decided 'this matter should be returned to you, the Metropolitan Police, to be dealt with in a reasonable and proportionate matter'.

The Metropolitan Police had reviewed the incident at the time and said it had found no misconduct, but the IOPC called the matter in to make its own assessment.

The police said no further action is being taken as there is no public complaint and no indication of misconduct.

It added that should a public complaint be made or information provided about injuries, it would refer the matter again to the IOPC.

Treena Fleming, the Metropolitan Police commander of the North Area Command Unit, said: 'I can understand why any use of Taser can look alarming, and why it did look alarming in this case.

'We never underestimate the impact such an incident can have on a family and the wider community.'

She said officers 'are highly trained to engage, explain and try to resolve situations, using force only when absolutely necessary'.

Temi Mwale - the director of London-based 4Front project - wrote on Instagram ahead of today's event: 'It has been nine years since the Metropolitan Police killed Mark Duggan in Tottenham, sparking uprisings across the country. 

'The police continue to violate, brutalise and kill black people with impunity. On the 9th anniversary of the uprisings we will demand justice.

'We are empowering young black people most impacted by police violence to fight for their rights and get their voices heard. No justice. No peace.'

The group support people with experiences of violence and the criminal justice system and empowers them to 'fight for justice, peace and freedom'. 

Tottenham Rights, The Monitoring Group, Black Lives Matter UK and Stopwatch also co-organised the demonstration and all participants were urged to obey social distancing rules. 

A protestor holds a sign reading 'Black lives matter. UK police murder too' at the demonstration today

A protestor holds a sign reading 'Black lives matter. UK police murder too' at the demonstration today

A woman stands by a painted sign reading 'no justice no peace' and 'Black lives matter' in Tottenham

A woman stands by a painted sign reading 'no justice no peace' and 'Black lives matter' in Tottenham

Demonstrators take part in a Black Lives Matter protest outside Tottenham police station

Demonstrators take part in a Black Lives Matter protest outside Tottenham police station

A flag soaked in fake blood was flown. It read: 'The UK is not innocent. Our blood your hands'

A flag soaked in fake blood was flown. It read: 'The UK is not innocent. Our blood your hands'

Signs were plastered to the entrance to Tottenham Police Station as demonstrators addressed the crowds today

Signs were plastered to the entrance to Tottenham Police Station as demonstrators addressed the crowds today

Temi Mwale - the director of London-based 4Front project - shared a poster (pictured) and wrote on Instagram: 'It has been nine years since the Metropolitan Police killed Mark Duggan in Tottenham, sparking uprisings across the country'

Temi Mwale - the director of London-based 4Front project - shared a poster (pictured) and wrote on Instagram: 'It has been nine years since the Metropolitan Police killed Mark Duggan in Tottenham, sparking uprisings across the country'

The protests this weekend were in stark contrast to the demonstrators who took to the streets dressed in paramilitary-style clothing last Saturday for an Afrikan Emancipation Day march through London.

The event was slammed as 'divisive' by Nigel Farage.

Hundreds of demonstrators brought Brixton to a halt as they marched through London.  

Farage said: 'Terrifying scenes in Brixton today. A paramilitary-style force marching in the streets. 

'This is what the BLM movement wanted from the start and it will divide our society like never before.'

A group of protesters dressed in black military-style uniforms march in tight formation through the streets of London. They are led by strapping men who bellow orders such as 'Atten-hut!' and 'Right face!' and look like a highly trained group of soldiers out on parade

The protests this weekend follow last Saturday's Afrikan Emancipation Day march through London (pictured) 

Family Forever members resembled the Black Panther revolutionary activists of 1960s America

Family Forever members resembled the Black Panther revolutionary activists of 1960s America

A promotional video made by the group (pictured at the march) said they are 'united in the battle against racism, inequality and injustice'

A promotional video made by the group (pictured at the march) said they are 'united in the battle against racism, inequality and injustice'

However, co-leader of the Green Party Jonathan Bartley responded to Mr Farage's intervention. 

He tweeted: 'You are just trying to create division. But these people in Brixton today know that love and justice will conquer the fear and hate that you peddle. Hope is what people need right now and they are showing the pathway toward it.' 

The Metropolitan Police said three people were arrested during last weekend's demonstration.

 

The new face of race hate: Marching through London they claimed to be fighting bigotry - but as this exposé by GUY ADAMS lays bare, their leader revels in anti-Semitic abuse... with chilling echoes of 1930s fascism

By Guy Adams for the Daily Mail 

A group of protesters dressed in black military-style uniforms march in tight formation through the streets of London

They are led by strapping men who bellow orders such as 'Atten-hut!' and 'Right face!' and look like a highly trained group of soldiers out on parade.

Some have dark berets, gloves and knee-high leather boots. A few carry walkie-talkies. At least one is wearing an IRA- style balaclava.

In some ways the scene appears to echo the 1930s, when Oswald Mosley's 'Blackshirts' took their ugly brand of fascism to working-class neighbourhoods of our capital city. But this was Brixton, last Saturday.

A group of protesters dressed in black military-style uniforms march in tight formation through the streets of London. They are led by strapping men who bellow orders such as 'Atten-hut!' and 'Right face!' and look like a highly trained group of soldiers out on parade

A group of protesters dressed in black military-style uniforms march in tight formation through the streets of London. They are led by strapping men who bellow orders such as 'Atten-hut!' and 'Right face!' and look like a highly trained group of soldiers out on parade

The occasion was a march for African Emancipation Day, held on the first day of August each year to mark both the anniversary of the date in 1834 when the Abolition of Slavery Act came into force, and to campaign for Britain to pay reparations for its role in the transatlantic slave trade.

The protesters in their stab vests and paramilitary-style fatigues belonged to a strange new organisation that calls itself the Forever Family Force.

Formed last month, to pursue what its social media feed has described as 'the battle against racism, inequality and injustice', it seems to have been conceived as a sort of British version of the Black Panthers, the radical far-Left protest group which wore similar garb as it campaigned against police brutality in 1960s America.

In keeping with this tradition, Forever Family has already sparked controversy.

To critics, the group appears to be importing an inflammatory brand of American-style identity politics — given oxygen by the Black Lives Matter movement — in which people of colour are encouraged to believe that society is so intrinsically racist, their only hope is to mount an organised resistance against the ruling class.

Those who see them as divisive and intimidating include Nigel Farage, who circulated images of last Saturday's protest on Twitter, saying: 'Terrifying scenes in Brixton today. A paramilitary-style force marching in the streets. This is what the BLM movement wanted from the start and it will divide our society like never before.'

Supporters, for their part, point out that the Brixton event was largely peaceful, with just three arrests, and argue that Forever Family is a harmless, if somewhat eccentric, group of well-meaning activists who enjoy dressing up.

In some ways the scene appears to echo the 1930s, when Oswald Mosley's 'Blackshirts' took their ugly brand of fascism to working-class neighbourhoods of our capital city. But this was Brixton, last Saturday

In some ways the scene appears to echo the 1930s, when Oswald Mosley's 'Blackshirts' took their ugly brand of fascism to working-class neighbourhoods of our capital city. But this was Brixton, last Saturday

This camp includes Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of the Green Party, who responded to Farage by declaring: 'You are just trying to create division. But these people in Brixton today know that love and justice will conquer the fear and hate you peddle. Hope is what people need right now and they are showing the pathway towards it.'

So, what is the truth? Well, here is where it starts to get interesting.

Despite Mr Bartley's remark about 'love and justice', I can reveal that Forever Family is led by a highly controversial musician who has recently used social media to voice vile slurs against other minority groups.

Among other things, he has shared deeply anti-transgender 'memes', circulated bizarre anti-vaccination conspiracy theories and suggested that Bill Gates has killed tens of thousands of children in Third World countries and is somehow responsible for the coronavirus pandemic.

Forever Family's leader has also made a series of anti-Semitic remarks blaming Jews for slavery.

In a series of Instagram posts this month, he described the Jewish community's alleged role in the slave trade as 'the original holocaust', criticised 'devils' who campaigned against Left-wing anti-Semitism on social media, and advanced a further selection of conspiracy theories claiming that Jews 'own' the banking system via what he calls the 'Rothschild bloodline'.

It is a wholly revolting world-view for anyone to hold, especially the leader of a group that purports to campaign against racism.

Indeed, some might argue that the real agenda of this militaristic protest group is not so far removed from that of the Black Panthers, the leaders of whose unofficial successors have denied the Holocaust and called Jews 'hook-nosed' impostors and 'bloodsuckers of the poor' who profiteer from the black community.

Perhaps that explains why, despite Forever Family's highprofile protests, its founder appears to have taken extensive steps to keep his identity secret.

On paper, the organisation is opaque. Its website consists of an image of a clenched fist, along with links to Twitter and Instagram accounts that have been set to 'private', so they can be read only by approved users.

A Facebook page, which can also be accessed from the website, allows viewers to watch two short videos which claim the organisation exists to 'mobilise, organise and centralise community initiatives to empower and support organisations with similar objectives' and say it is 'united in building a self-sufficient and stable community'.

What these vague mission statements mean, and how the group proposes to actually achieve its aims, are unclear.

Neither its social media accounts nor its website contain any information about who is behind it.

The only supporter who has made his identity publicly known is a musician called Mega — not the leader of the group referred to above — who performs with the hip-hop collective So Solid Crew. He used Twitter to declare that he took part in last Saturday's protest, boasting: 'We locked down Brixton today.'

Ironically, given this secretive modus operandi, the films circulated by Forever Family also claim that its values are 'integrity, transparency and accountability'.

One thing Forever Family is keen to get its hands on, though, is money. And that is what allows us to trace its founder: several of its social media pages carry links to a PayPal site where supporters can donate to the cause.

Contributions are then, according to PayPal, passed to a company called Forever Family Limited, which was incorporated on June 20 and operates out of a service address in Hoxton, East London.

Companies House records show the firm's secretary is a 27-year-old woman from Wandsworth, South London, called Rachelle Emanuel. The only director — and the group's leader and founder — is a 28-year-old resident of Ilford, East London, called Khari McKenzie.

Neither has responded to a request for comment.

Little is known about Ms Emanuel. However, McKenzie, who is listed as having 'significant control' over Forever Family, is a rap artist who performs under the stage name Raspect.

He appears to have become politically active in 2011 after the police shooting of Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old gang member whose death sparked the riots in London and elsewhere that year.

In more recent years, McKenzie has been active in a community group called 'GANG', whose supporters arrive at incidents of gang violence wearing stab vests and using loudhailers to encourage locals onto the streets to 'reclaim the space'.

In early 2018, McKenzie made a series of appearances on Victoria Derbyshire's BBC chat show to discuss race relations following the death of Edson Da Costa, a 25-year-old from East London who died after swallowing plastic bags of heroin and crack cocaine when his car was stopped by the police.

In one bizarre interview with Derbyshire that year, he urged viewers not to call the police to incidents of crime, saying: 'Don't call 999, call the g-line,' an apparent reference to GANG's contact number. At around the same time, he was photographed shaking hands with London mayor Sadiq Khan at City Hall.

The only director ¿ and the group's leader and founder ¿ is a 28-year-old resident of Ilford, East London, called Khari McKenzie

The only director — and the group's leader and founder — is a 28-year-old resident of Ilford, East London, called Khari McKenzie

More recently, McKenzie filmed himself being, as he put it, 'rudely interrupted, harassed and threatened' by police officers, who asked why he appeared to be breaking lockdown rules to socialise with a group of acquaintances in a park at the height of the Covid epidemic.

And in early June, soon after the killing of George Floyd in the U.S., he began taking photographs of himself in military clothes at Black Lives Matter protests in London.

In more recent times, McKenzie's public statements — particularly since Forever Family came into being — have become more volatile, not to mention offensive.

Last year, for example, he used Instagram to share a transphobic joke suggesting that people who identify as female but are born male are likely to be sex offenders.

'A man followed a young girl into Asda toilets in London, saying he identifies as a woman,' it read. 'The man's teeth were knocked out by the girl's father, who said he identifies as the tooth fairy.'

In spring this year, he uploaded several posts to Instagram making various claims about Bill Gates, suggesting that the Microsoft founder is somehow exploiting the Covid crisis to try to force mandatory vaccinations on the world.

This odd conspiracy theory — doing the rounds in corners of the internet popular with the anti-vaccination movement — reflects the senseless belief that Mr Gates has established that vaccines will kill people who take them, and is therefore endorsing them as part of a plot to reduce the global population.

'The same guy who says we need to depopulate suddenly wants to save everyone with his vaccines,' read one such post by McKenzie.

Another claimed, wrongly, that 48,000 children in India had been 'paralysed by Bill Gates's polio vaccine'. A third post called him a 'documented thief' who 'owns vaccine companies' and 'visited [Jeffrey] Epstein's pedo [sic] island countless times'.

In fact, there is no evidence that Mr Gates is a criminal, nor that he ever visited Mr Epstein's private island (although he did meet him and once travelled on his private jet).

McKenzie isn't just posting paranoid content on Instagram, however. He also uploads blatantly anti-Semitic content.

In June, he began using the network to attack the Jewish community, sharing a false conspiracy theory that the restraining technique of kneeling on the neck, as used by the police officer who killed George Floyd in Minneapolis in May, had been learnt during secret seminars with Israeli security forces.

'Research who funded the transatlantic slave trade biggest holocaust and crime against humanity, with no reparations,' he declared in one Instagram post, illustrated with images of the Israeli Defence Force. 'Look who is behind training police in the USA and the UK to put there [sic] legs on our necks.'

Similar sentiments were voiced, at around the same time, by the Corbynite actress Maxine Peake, leading to the sacking of Shadow Cabinet minister Rebecca Long-Bailey, who described her as 'a diamond'. Peake later apologised.

Last week, McKenzie continued in this questionable vein by using Instagram to share a video of himself giving a rambling speech about Zionism.

'Every Zionist is an Islamophobe,' he said. 'It don't make me anti-Semitic if I don't agree with the oppression in Palestine. That's foolishness, yeah. 

So when we're talking about Zionists, and even talking about if I don't agree with the people that run the banks, yeah, and by them running the banks the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, if I don't agree with that, that don't make me anti-no one. I'm just anti-oppression.

'If I look in my history book and see there were people with Zionist blood that were heavily involved in the transatlantic slave trade, me pointing that out doesn't make me anti-Semitic...'

The next day, McKenzie attacked the 'devils' who had successfully persuaded Instagram, YouTube and Twitter to close the accounts of a rap artist called Wiley, who had made a series of highly anti-Semitic attacks on the Jewish community.

As well as circulating a petition calling for Wiley's reinstatement, his posts attacking the move carried a series of anti-Semitic hashtags, including #Rothschildbloodline and #whoownsthebanks, advancing the Nazi-era slur that Jews are in control of all international finance.

In response to those posts, a spokesman for the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism tells me: 'There is no justification for using anti-Semitic tropes to commemorate the horrors of slavery or protest [against] ongoing racism in society today.

'Forever Family should appreciate that, for ordinary decent people, and the Jewish community in particular, seeing a paramilitary [group] wearing black shirts and marching through the streets of London led by a man who rails against 'Zionist bloodlines' is frighteningly reminiscent of humanity's darkest hour and does nothing to further the noble cause of fighting racism. Prejudice cannot be beaten by more prejudice.'

To put things more bluntly, the group that dressed up in uniform to 'reclaim' the streets of Brixton a week ago — and was so publicly endorsed by the co-leader of the Green Party — has rather too much in common with those fascist blackshirts who paraded through London in similar garb more than 80 years ago.

Black Lives Matter protestors wave placards outside Tottenham police station

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