Senior Sandwell councillor Bob Piper has confirmed that he is to be charged by West Midlands Police (WMP) in connection with an alleged ‘hate-crime’ involving nazi-related words or gestures toward a local blogger – but claims that they were aimed at a ‘For Britain’ supporter instead.
Locals told the SKWAWKBOX that the councillor had made a ‘nazi salute’ in a local pub and have said that there is CCTV footage showing it, but Cllr Piper denied this when contacted by the SKWAWKBOX:
Saunders was drinking in a pub with his friend [redacted], who is a member of the Islamophobic ‘For Britain’, having left UKIP because they were too soft.
As I passed [the friend] I said Seig Heil. Saunders for some weird reason assumed I was talking to him, so I told him to piss off.
Both of them have reported me to the police for a ‘hate crime’ and the police say they are going to charge me.
Piper also sent screenshots of tweets by the other man involved, who is an open supporter of For Britain, to support his account of events.
The blogger in question is Julian Saunders, who writes the ‘Sandwell Skidder’ blog and has been a frequent critic of the Labour-run council.
Bob Piper is a close ally of Sandwell Council leader Steve Eling and wrote to the SKWAWKBOX to defend Eling when the SKWAWKBOX showed evidence Eling had been attempting to press WMP to pursue charges against Julian Saunders.
SKWAWKBOX comment:
With a Labour Party investigation into Sandwell expected to conclude within the next few days, Piper’s news could scarcely come at a worse time for council leader Steve Eling, who is considered a close ally of local right-wing MPs.
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Je suis Charlie Ebdo or Voltaire? I may or may not like Bob Piper or his mates, but I wonder about the state using ‘hate crimes’ as a control mechanism for verbal abuse.
Absolutely.
FFS – anyone getting all virtuous should first of all contemplate the way in which the charge of ‘antisemitism’ has been manipulated to hide the excrescence of Israeli ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.
John Lennon would have been charged on numerous occasions.
I don’t always agree with Bob Piper. He’s on the right of thr party, and we also had an argument a while back on a Birmingham website about development policies in the city. But he is a decent and proper member of the Labour Party. If is being charged with ‘hate crime’ for telling home truths to a supporter of For Britain we should be supporting him, and asking why West Midlands Police are using legislation designed to protect minroity groups to defend fascists.