Public racial abuse is illegal in the U.K.—and lots of people are getting collared for it as authorities leisurely comb through the extensive social media footage posted by and of far-right rioters in recent weeks. Phil Hoban, charged with racially aggravated harassment over his activities at an anti-immigration rally in Leeds, offered a brilliant excuse to the police: he was ranting about Alan, not Allah.
The court was told Hoban had been making slurs referencing Allah.
He denied this in a police interview, instead saying he was chanting about a man called "Alan".
The judge said his "conduct and that of your group was designed to stir up hatred".
1. No one in the crowd is booing you, sir. They're saying "Boo-urns! Boo-urns!"
2. Alan is great.
Hoban is one of those "pedophile hunter" influencers of the type that's clearly in it for social media content and clout. In the U.S. such characters are generally loathed by authorities because they impede real investigations and prosecutions, but the local paper reports this guy's conviction as a "fall from grace", citing a celebrity his group nailed. Sometimes you get the feeling media remain vague on it all. The obliviousness here to the Venn Diagram of "social media, far right, vigilantism" is striking.
