Fear grows in London suburb after alleged Polish neo-Nazi gang attack

Screenshot of video uploaded onto YouTube showing Saturday's incident in Tottenham's Markfield Park in London.

Community leaders in a north London suburb have issued an appeal for calm after an alleged Polish neo-Nazi gang assaulted festival-goers on Saturday. Local residents in Tottenham say the group has been growing in size and influence for the past three years – culminating in this weekend’s bloody attack.

Dozens of revelers were out in Markfield Park on Saturday enjoying a concert as part of celebrations to mark World Music Day. According to a witness contacted by FRANCE 24, the violence started when a group of men belonging to an extremist group began attacking people with bottles and flares.

Video uploaded to YouTube showing Saturday's incident in a Tottenham park in London.

In the video, groups of men can be seen throwing bottles and flares in the park before police intervene. One man was stabbed but by Sunday had been released from hospital. The men reportedly belong to an ultra-nationalist Polish group called ‘Zjednoczeni Emigranci’, meaning ‘United Immigrants’.

This photo is said to be used by the group on social media pages. ‘Zjednoczeni Emigranci’ can be seen in several places.

"This is the first time they’ve attacked on such a large-scale"

Oz Katerji is a documentary filmmaker who lives near the park. His friends were part of the group that organised the music festival.

I was at the event all day. There had been no problems: the police were nearby, and the last DJ was about to come on. At that time one of the Polish neo-Nazi groups started forming behind the stage. One of them attempted to steal a beer from a smaller stage. Someone in our group tried to stop them. Then they started throwing punches, and then bottles and flares. Then they stabbed one of our guys.

This event was a multicultural family event. There were children and babies there. There was music like reggae being played. But the extremist group had also been planning to hold a rally nearby in the park which the council and police were aware of. They were out looking for trouble. They’ve been congregating in the area around the park for about three years now and they’re getting stronger in force. They have between 350 and 500 members and often hold rallies [An online Facebook group called ‘Zjednoczeni Emigranci UK’ is listed as having 315 members. It is closed to the public].

 

"The rise of extremist groups like this seems to be a relatively new phenomenon"

They’re supposedly linked with extreme far-right groups and hooligans in Poland. The group has sprayed racist graffiti and stickers around the area of the park. Before, they’d been involved in minor crimes like burglaries and petty vandalism. But this is the first time they’ve attacked on such a large-scale on a group of people, injuring someone in the process. They were audacious and bold: they didn’t care that we had 200 people on our side. Maybe that’s because they are used to fighting large groups of people.

I know a Jewish gentleman was attacked but I can’t say whether the attack was motivated by anti-Semitism or not. These were simply young people out having fun in the sun. But the rise of extremist groups like this seems to be a relatively new phenomenon. I hadn’t even heard of this group until I saw them. I spoke to local residents and they said the group had been around for three years and that they were growing in size at an alarming rate.

This article was written by FRANCE 24 journalist Andrew Hilliar (@andyhilliar).