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Sharia patrols


A group of vigilantes calling themselves "Muslim patrols" patrolled the streets in East London from 2013 to 2014. The individuals were young Sunni Muslim men, members of an organisation that called itself the "Shariah Project". Early in 2013, videos of their activities, filmed by members of the patrol, were uploaded online: these showed hooded members confronting passers-by and demanding that they behave in an Islamic way. They targeted prostitutes, people drinking alcohol, couples who were holding hands, women whom they considered to be dressed immodestly, and harassed others whom they perceived as being gay. Five men were arrested in January 2013 as part of an investigation into the gang. In December 2013, three of them plead guilty to affray, and were subsequently jailed.

The Muslim East London Mosque community condemned the patrols as "utterly unacceptable" In response to the attacks the neofascist organisation Britain First has attemped to establish 'Christian Patrols'.

One video uploaded to YouTube by the gang, "The Truth About Saturday Night", was viewed more than 42,000 times. In it, the gang confronted people, shouting "this is a Muslim area" at them. The hooded men are seen forcing people to empty their alcoholic drinks down drains, and instructing a group of women that "they need to forbid themselves from dressing like this and exposing themselves outside the mosque".

A second video, beginning with a logo saying "Islam will take over the world", showed the gang shouting homophobic abuse at a man walking in Whitechapel. The gang shouted at a man who appeared to be wearing make-up that he is "in a Muslim area dressed like a fag" and must leave. One gang member orders the man: "Get out of here quicker. You're dirty mate." After the victim says that he is a homosexual, he is repeatedly prompted to say that he is "dirty".


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