Latest news with #bookburning
Telegraph
4 days ago
- General
- Telegraph
Man on trial for burning Koran ‘had right to criticise Islam'
In closing submissions on Thursday, Katy Thorne KC, for the defence, said: 'If this country wanted to criminalise the burning of books in public, or burning of religious books in public that would have been done. 'It has been discussed and it has not been criminalised.' Mr Coskun is accused of carrying out disorderly behaviour 'within the hearing or sight of a person likely to have caused harassment, alarm or distress' by burning a copy of the Koran. It is further alleged he held it aloft while shouting 'f--- Islam' and 'Islam is religion of terrorism', and was motivated by hostility towards members of a religious group, namely followers of Islam. Ms Thorne said his right to criticise religion was 'sacrosanct' and had to be protected. 'We suggest there have been, across history and indeed now, many people who are hostile to other religions. 'Feminists to Catholicism as an example. But that is a sacrosanct act they are entitled to express and however offensive Muslims may find the behaviour and beliefs of the defendant he is entitled to have them.' Hostility to religion, not its followers She said his actions were not motivated by a hostility towards the followers of Islam but to the religion itself. She added: 'He is protesting against the religion of Islam and his governments' relationship with Islam and Islamic terrorism. 'He was motivated by that hostility to Islam and its teaching because of what has happened in his country and what has happened to his family by extremists purporting to act for that religion. 'He was complaining about the move away from secularism, which he holds very dear. 'He was complaining more generally about the teachings of Islam but the reason why he was there in that place were his complaints about Turkey.' Philip McGhee, for the CPS, said that Mr Coskun was not being prosecuted for the burning of the book. He said the combination of the derogatory remarks about Islam, and the fact it was done in public, made it a public order offence. 'Aware his behaviour may be disorderly' 'He was aware at the very least that his behaviour may be disorderly', he said. Mr McGhee added: 'He was motivated at least partly by hostility to followers of Islam by their membership of that group'. At the end of the hour-long hearing, District Judge John McGarva, refused an application by the CPS to prevent the publication of a video showing the burning of the Koran and the subsequent attack on Mr Coskun. The prosecutors had argued it could prejudice the upcoming trial of the man who attacked Mr Coskun if it was released. The video shows Mr Coskun burning the book outside the consulate in Knightsbridge shouting 'Islam is religion of terrorism'. As he did so, a man from a neighbouring building is seen coming out to ask him why he was doing it. 'Terrorist,' replied Mr Coskun. The man then goes back inside, before coming out and attacking Mr Coskun. He appears to slash at Mr Coskun with a blade and then begins kicking him when he falls to the ground. Although he has admitted assaulting Mr Coskun he has denied using a knife in the attack. The man, whose identity is still subject to reporting restrictions, will go on trial in 2027. Judge McGarva however ruled that the footage should be made available to the press. 'Attack on the freedom of the press' A spokesman for the Free Speech Union, who are supporting Mr Coskun, said the CPS attempt to prohibit the fact Mr Coskun's attacker had a knife was a 'direct attack on the freedom of the press'. He said: 'Not only is the Crown Prosecution Service trying to punish Hamit for exercising his right to freedom of expression, but it also sought to ban the press from reporting that Hamit's attacker tried to slash him with a knife – a direct attack on the freedom of the press. The judge wisely threw out this application. 'The truth is that Hamit was the victim of a series of violent attacks. Rather than punish his attackers – only one of the four people who attacked Hamit is being prosecuted – the CPS is attempting to punish him. Now that the judge has lifted the reporting restrictions, the truth is impossible to conceal – this is a clear case of victim blaming.' Judge McGarva said he would give his verdict on Mr Coskun's case on Monday at the same court. Addressing the defendant directly, he said: 'I know he is anxious but I have got to get this right. There is quite a lot to think about.'
The Guardian
15-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Faith leaders denounce US book burning as hate-fuelled intimidation
A group of faith leaders in Ohio denounced a recent alleged hate crime in the state, in which a man burned books belonging to a public library. The destroyed books were on Jewish, African American and LGBTQ+ history. 'Unfortunately, this is one of those things that's, like, I'm shocked, but not surprised, every time it happens,' Rev Ryan Wallace of Fairmount Presbyterian told the Guardian in an interview. 'We need to not get complacent. Every time it happens, we have to be there to say, 'this is unacceptable.'' The group of faith leaders gathered on Monday to speak out against the book burning. The informal, inter-faith coalition in Ohio, called the Interfaith Group Against Hate, has been organizing and engaging in political action in recent years, to combat far-right and white supremacist attacks. Wallace said the coalition, which began in 2023, has also been engaging in pro-immigrant advocacy, in response to the Trump administration's heightened offensive on immigrant communities. 'I've seen a lot of this kind of hate. And there's more and more and more of it,' said Wallace. 'And that was part of it, with this interfaith group, to say: let's not pretend like this is just somebody else's problem and that this is happening someplace else. It's happening here.' In early April, far-right social media accounts began circulating videos of a person who entered a public library in Beachwood, Ohio, checked out 100 books and proceeded to burn them. The videos were first identified by Princeton University's Bridging Divides Initiative, a research group tracking political violence throughout the US, who contacted local officials and activists in Beachwood. The officials then contacted the local police department, which launched an investigation. 'I condemn this act, not only because it is a crime against our institutions and community, but also because it is fundamentally un-American,' said Ohio Democratic state senator Kent Smith in a statement. 'There is no place for such hate, censorship, or intimidation in Beachwood, nor this country.' One of the videos, related to the alleged book burning, was shared on a white supremacist Telegram group, which was accessed and viewed by the Guardian. The video shows a number of books in the trunk of a car, related to Jewish, Black and LGBTQ+ history. Among the books displayed in the video are Black Radical by Kerri K Greenidge, Fighting Auschwitz by Polish historian Józef Garliński, Pride and Persistence: Stories of Queer Activism by Mary Fairhurst Breen and The ABCs of Queer History by Seema Yasmin, among others. 'We are cleansing our libraries of degenerate filth,' the Telegram post reads. A second video, shared on social media, shows someone throwing those books into a fire. Researchers identified the books as belonging to the Cuyahoga county public library due to the stickers on the books, according to a police report, as first reported by The county's public library system did not provide a comment. The Beachwood police department launched an ongoing investigation, the department said in a statement to the Guardian. Once the investigation is complete, the city prosecutor will review and determine whether they can charge someone with a crime. 'Our department stands against antisemitism and all acts of bias-motivated crimes,' the Beachwood police chief Dan Grispino said in a statement. 'We are committed to vigorously investigating and prosecuting any hate-motivated incidents within the City of Beachwood. Our priority is to maintain a community that can thrive without the fear of threats of intimidation or violence.' The state of Ohio has a number of far-right, racist hate groups, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) initiative, an independent organization monitoring political violence. Patriot Front and White Lives Matter are the most prominent groups, ACLED reports. 'Since the start of 2023, Ohio has seen some of the highest levels of activity from white supremacist groups of any state,' the organization said in a recent video. The white supremacist Telegram group, where the Guardian found the early April video of the books, belongs to the White Lives Matter in Ohio chapter. White Lives Matter has been designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group. According to videos and posts shared in the Telegram chat, the group places stickers, drops flyers and hangs banners around the state of Ohio, promoting white supremacy. 'Everything beautiful is white,' one sticker will read. 'White people first,' another one reads. The White Lives Matter organization does not just engage in propaganda efforts in the state – it has promoted outright violence. In March 2023, White Lives Matter members arrived at a drag queen event, carrying flags with swastikas on them, shouting racist and homophobic slurs and 'Heil Hitler', according to Later that month, one of the White Lives Matter members firebombed a local church, in response to the church agreeing to host a drag show. The man responsible, who was discovered to have a Nazi flag and memorabilia by the FBI, was later sentenced to 18 years in prison for trying to destroy the church with molotov cocktails. The church sued the White Lives Matter organization and some of its top members last year for damages. There have been other far-right attacks and alarming instances in recent years, according to Rev Wallace. Just more than a year ago, someone desecrated tombstones in a Jewish cemetery in Cleveland with swastikas. And a local football coach resigned in 2023, after he was caught using the word 'Nazi' as a play call. 'Then there was a mosque that I'm very close with – there was a petition going around the community to shut the mosque down because they said they were 'pro-Hamas.' That was all lies,' said Wallace. One of the defining moments for Wallace and the Interfaith Group Against Hate was during last fall's presidential race, when the Trump campaign falsely claimed Haitian immigrants were eating cats and dogs. That's when they realized that the group had to step up their organizing efforts to help immigrant communities in the region. ' As a person of faith, I am called to stand in solidarity with the whole community, and to call for change in our community that reflects our shared values,' he said. The group hopes to donate 1,000 books to the library system, related to Jewish, African American and LGBTQ+ history.
Fox News
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
DNC vice chair slams Trump as 'punk,' 'would-be dictator' in fiery Pa. town hall
A Democratic National Committee (DNC) vice chairman fired up a crowd outside Philadelphia on Saturday after calling President Donald Trump a "punk" and accusing his administration of modern-day book burning for adjusting content on government websites. "There is a strategy of authoritarians and would-be dictators and punks like Donald Trump," Malcolm Kenyatta said at a town hall in Levittown that was officially targeting swing-district Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa. As part of that "strategy," Kenyatta said, "one of the first things they go after is history." "We know that before, they used to take the books, put them in a little pile and burn them. Now they try to delete stuff off of our federal websites. But the effect is the same. They want us to forget what we are made of," he went on, in a clip circulated by the left-leaning outlet "The Keystone." Since taking office, Trump has overseen agencies that have altered or removed content relating to DEI, climate change and gender ideology. "Donald Trump is not the first bully or would-be authoritarian that Americans have taken on. We know it here in Pennsylvania. We don't have a good relationship with kings," he said, as Penn's Woods was founded by Quakers and other religious exiles fed up with European authoritarians. "I'm not bowing to a king." Kenyatta is also the state representative for the Temple University area of North Philadelphia, and the first openly gay person of color to serve in Harrisburg. He added that "people like Fitzpatrick" lack the "guts" to stand up to Trump. At another recent appearance in Berks County – which includes Reading and Hamburg – Kenyatta railed against the arrest of Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka at an ICE detention facility there. "He was peacefully protesting and speaking up for his constituents and his neighbors. He wasn't inciting an insurrection… because if he was doing that, they might have offered him a position in the Cabinet," Kenyatta said. Kenyatta notably finished third in the 2022 Pennsylvania Senate primary won by Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and unsuccessfully ran for auditor general in 2024 against GOP incumbent Timothy DeFoor. White House spokesperson Harrison Fields responded Monday, telling Fox News Digital that Kenyatta is a "no-name state representative who was trounced in the Pennsylvania Senate primary due to his radical and unserious positions." "The prominence the Democrat Party affords him reflects the party's disarray and desire to satisfy its radical base," Fields said. Fox News Digital reached out to Fitzpatrick for comment.
