Numerous times now I have written blog entries on a group of cyber-bullies which calls itself the “Cheerleaders”. Their original targets were Muslim extremists – after all, who cares if they get harassed? – but they also fixate on other people, most notably the blogger Tim Ireland, whom they have subjected to a campaign of abuse and threats in the stated hope that he would be forced to leave the country. As has been documented at length, their campaign has included posting his home address on-line and sending it to hostile parties; this was shortly after Tim had been the subject of a smear campaign accusing him of being a wanted paedophile, and shortly after he had engaged in some anti-BNP activism.
All this time, the “Cheerleaders” have themselves for the most part hidden behind pseudonyms. We know there is an overlap with a music band called “The Fighting Cocks”, with at least three members actively involved. Most obviously, there is the band’s singer, Charlie Flowers, who has threatened to come around to Tim’s house for a fight, and who recently told Tim – distastefully – that he would perform a “Gypsy curse” against Tim’s family. There’s also Dan Wilde, whom Tim approached for an explanation for the harassment and who declined to disassociate himself from the attacks. I’ve also received a message from another associate of the group – someone who calls himself “Matthew Edwards”.
So we have three named members. However, there are other “Cheerleaders” members, and a Facebook page (entitled “Cheerleadered”) has over 200 “friends” listed. Most of these 200 probably joined up after accepting casual invitations, and do not know about the harassing activities. Among the core group, though, is someone who calls herself “Amarah Hadchiti” or “Shooter Hadchiti”, which was recently amended to “Shooter Kirpachi”. Here she (or he, perhaps?) is boasting on Facebook about driving someone off-line:
I’ve redacted a couple of names from the above screen-shot, as these belonged to actual people who may been expecting a bit of privacy.
The background to this particular exchange is that the “Cheerleaders” had recently made links with the serial fraudster Farah Damji, who enjoys some sort of cult following; Damji is described as an “officer” on the Cheerledered Facebook page. Damji was recently found guily of new offences, and as the day of her sentencing approached someone used Twitter to advertise the fact widely. The “Cheerleaders” in turn made threats against this person, warning her that they would cause trouble for her with her employer. That person’s Twitter feed was also suspended, and the above suggests that it was complaints from the “Cheerleaders” which achieved this result (As an aside, despite a sudden health scare which delayed sentencing for a few days – during which time Damji managed a few messages such as the above from her sick bed – she recovered enough for sentencing finally to take place, and she is now in prison.).
Here’s a second exchange:
This is an obvious reference to Tim Ireland, whom they have accused of stalking because he has sought answers about who has been conducting the campaign against him and why. Last week, Tim wrote about one of Charlie Flowers’ friends, who had been cc-ed into a threatening email which Flowers had sent to Tim and who had declined to distance himself from it. Flowers, as ever, resorted to threats to try to divert Tim from his path, culminating in his “Gypsy curse” on Tim’s family. The timing of the above fits with that.
This is of course more harassment, rationalised with a vicious lie clearly being used to incite – and the new development here is that they are recruiting a person who hasn’t hidden behind a pseudonym into their campaign. This person should know better, of course, but one can see how if they believe “Kirpachi’s” comment they might enter into a particular course of action. They whould then face the legal repercussions, while “Kirpachi” continues to skulk behind a hidden identity. Nasty.
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If one participated in a public forum which these people were monitoring unknown to me. What can one do if they used my log to contact my ISP about my personal details. I remember receiving a phone call although they just said greetings in Hebrew and stayed silence?
This happened to me when I was with Orange, and obviously changed it immediately with disgust. Is it that easy to follow peoples IP. I thought they needed more unless they have been receiving info by illegal means i.e. these call centres in India. Hence the Indian pseudonym names they very much prefer.
So Richard, what’s it like being a made up part of Tim Ireland (as the video claims)?
Also, why the 30 sec gap at the end?
Yes, it’s funny that Wightman would choose such a ridiculous audio as proof of his “vindication” (as the YouTube description has it). And “Paddy R” is Wightman – the IP is unusual, and matches a message I have received from him.
Good grief, what a shambles, silly ideas, basic vocabulary, poor sound equipment and a 30 second gap for no bloody reason.
Dear me, I almost feel sorry for the goons.
“You have no idea who we are, nor do the police, nor the MI5, nor our parents…”
ahahahahahahahahahahaaaa
anyone who puts the police, MI5 and then their parents in the same sentence needs to get out more and perhaps even start wearing long trousers occasionally.
Nice one luv. I still think the Fighting Cocks are a shite band. Dancing alongside them with pompoms is like rolling a turd in glitter.
The MoS seems very similar to that of a group of Wikipedia trolls as seen at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Long_term_abuse#LBHS_Cheerleader. It seems trolling cheerleaders is becoming quite an internet meme.
Easy to hide behind anonymity. I have far more respect for people like Tim who stand behind what they say and back up with facts. Established facts. It is an easy thing these days too to rubbish Muslims, Islam and so on as a group, when it is the few who have tarred the many. Yes, the majority of people on this planet are concerned and rightly so about acts of terrorism – but your bullshit little group is doing nothing other than hate monger. We don’t know who you are? Maybe because you are NOTHING!!!!!!!! Doing NOTHING!!!!!! And achieving NOTHING!!!!!!!! Of all the things we can do to counteract terrorism these days, people still pull this kind of nonsense? Makes you worry about what they are contributing to the gene pool….
No one has any right to make unfounded accusations of stalking etc and publish home addresses online. Its called cyber bullying you ignorant freaks, and honestly you are just putting out there that you are completely without intelligence.
I wonder if they can come back with something smarter than “Says you!”? Unlikely. I am sure that have no idea how completely ridiculous they sound too…
[…] 5 March 2010: An email arrives from someone asking me about Farah Damji’s links with the “Cheerleaders”. The email is signed with the initials of someone who had […]
[…] of hostile parties (which, if Flowers was true to his word, would have included the BNP). As I blogged here, Flowers’ accomplices also used Dorries’ claim to try to draw other people into the […]
[…] violence; Flowers has cited Dorries as the reason for his actions, and he and alluded to Dorries to incite others to join his campaign, on the grounds that Tim “stalks women”. Flowers claims to have […]
[…] However, it is in dealing with various MPs and activists connected with the Conservative Party that Tim has discovered the most egregious abuses: unsurprisingly, given that he has been the target of them. Tim’s latest post on the subject is comprehensive rather than concise, but the guts of it can be summarised easily: as a strategy to deflect and discourage critical scrutiny, various individuals have chosen to smear Tim as a “stalker”. It’s not a conspiracy, but, as with other playground taunts, the accusation has quickly gained momentum among a group of like-minded people with overlapping interests. It’s also self-reinforcing: if Tim complains about it, this is itself evidence of stalking; if he lays out his defence, he’s an obsessive. Worse, however, is that Tim’s researches have earned him some more sinister enemies, who have been subjecting him to real harassment: personal details have been posted on-line about his home and smears about his family, there have been threats of violence, and anonymous attack blogs have been set up with slanderous accusations. Those who indulge in this self-debasing behaviour use the “stalker” accusation as cover, as self-justification, and as a means to incite others. […]