Friends of the “Cheerleaders” Wade in with Evasions

More comments have been received regarding my posts on Charlie Flowers and the “Cheerleaders”. As any regular readers will know, this is the gang of semi-anonymous cyber-vigilantes who last year decided to post Tim Ireland’s home address all over the internet, without regard for his family’s safety, in the stated hope that he would be forced to flee the country. Threats of violence were also received, including “machete to your throat”. Tim has asked various associated people to account for this behaviour: these include a member of Flowers’ “Fighting Cocks” band named Dan Wilde; Gina Khan, who is listed on a “Cheerleadered” Facebook page as an officer; and several friends whom Flowers cc-ed into an email threat he sent to Tim.

Remarkably, not one of these persons contacted has responded wishing to disassociate themselves from Flowers’ behaviour; instead, aggrieved messages are coming in from Flowers’ associates complaining about my coverage of the subject. Here are the main points, with brief responses:

(1) It was just a joke.
Response: Would you find it funny to be on the receiving end of a campaign of harassment of this sort? To receive the message “machete to your throat”? To have to consider moving home to protect your family after your address has been maliciously publicised?

(2) I spend too much time on the computer.
Response: So what?

(3) I haven’t met Flowers and his friends.
Response: If Flowers and the “Cheerleaders” have some sort of justification for their shameful behaviour, it’s up to them to make it known. The idea that I have to travel to some location of their choosing in order to hear some sort of rationalisation in person before I can make a judgement is just an evasion.

(4) I ought to be willing to “justify” myself by being filmed.
Response: This makes no sense – although I’ve had a similar demand before. The idea is that what I have say cannot be valid unless I do it through a particular medium of their choosing. It’s simply weird.

(5)  There’s no evidence that Flowes and the “Cheerleaders” have in fact harassed Tim Ireland.
Response: By that, what is meant is that the evidence is being ignored. Here’s a screenshot for starters.

(6) I haven’t mentioned anything about Flowers’ support for groups like British Muslims for secular Democracy.
Response: What’s that got to do with a campaign of illegal harassment against Tim? There are doubtless various political issues on which I have no argument at all with Flowers and the “Cheerleaders”. My main problem is with their utterly unwarranted threats against Tim Ireland.

However, one message in particular stands out for its whining hypocrisy, although it does contain some corrective points – step forward Darren Marsh, responding to my post about this picture:

F.A.O. Bullshitter Bartholomew

Whilst you are busy accusing all and sundry of lies and deception perhaps your readers might also be interested in seeing yet more proof of where you too have been blowing it out of your rather ample arse.

1) You have made the assertion that I am “Darren Marsh of the English Democratic Party” or whoever they are supposed to be when they’re at home. I have been a fully paid-up member of the United Kingdom Independence Party since June 2009 and as such I still have 4 months left to run. Therefore I have no idea who supplied you with such misinformation but my only guess is you have a team of monkeys working around the clock on discovering such revelations.

2) The lad in the red panda shirt is just another poor unfortunate who has fallen into your cowardly sights (even more amusing is that you feel he actually looks like an active EDL member when he’s about as Irish as Beamish). He is in fact an English Literature student who popped down to the pub with one of his mates that evening.

3) Do you not feel the slightest bit guilty in posting the images and identities of unknown females who are entirely unconnected to your ‘rage against Flowers’ but by your disgusting assertions could now be open to reprisals purely because of the sick propaganda you peddle and the information you are renowned for passing on to extremists? It would seem that your megalomania is worth far more to you than the safety and security of those members of the public whom you have never met in your life but whose lives you are privileged enough to play God with from afar. Just how far are you prepared to go with your blatant self-promotion?

So there we have it. Let’s have no more self-aggrandising comments and pretentious bullshit. Just accept that you are indeed wrong where these 3 points are concerned…

As for point 1, I do concede that I got Marsh’s fringe party membership wrong. I also concede that I meant to write “English Democrats Party” rather than the “English Democratic Party”, which is apparently another organisation (although Marsh’s pretence at not knowing what I mean is just silly). My identification was based on Marsh’s public association with English Democrat paraphernalia and websites. Unsurprisingly, I’m not a particular fan of this party, but it’s a lot better than some of the other “nationalist” alternatives.

As for point 2, I did misidentify, albeit in good faith, the man on the right of the photograph as the EDL’s Matthew Kaplan, who is ally of Joel Titus. A “Cheerleader” sock-puppet named “Barry G.” put me right on that point, but then made a misleading comment about how this person’s name could not be revealed to me lest I pass it on to “jihadis”. I took that to mean that this person was someone else who is politically involved with Titus’ “moderate” EDL strand. Flowers chose to bring this person into the picture – literally.

And as for point 3, this really is a joke. (1) The picture was posted by the “Cheerleaders” themselves, not by me. If anyone in the picture wanted privacy, they should make their complaint to “Shooter Kirpachi”, the “Cheerleader” who put it on-line; (2) One of those two women is in fact a “Cheerleader” friend of Flowers – that means she identifies with the harassment against Tim Ireland; (3) Flowers decided to run a campaign of harassment – he can’t now complain that a torchlight is being shone in his direction, and that this might also mean publicity for the various friends and associates he has co-opted into his gang of bullies; (4) given that Marsh’s comment contains the lie – derived from Dominic Wightman and publicised by the “Cheerleaders” – that I share information with extremists (see here), talk about “reprisals” caused by my “misinformation” and “disgusting assertions” is utterly hollow.

Why is this so difficult to understand? Flowers and his friends have conducted a campaign of harassment against an innocent man – indeed, it’s still on-going. That’s the simple fact that has set all this in train. All the bluster and indignation about my supposed faults (either real or imagined) is no more than a smokescreen for those who don’t wish to talk about that – and would rather no-one else did either.

UPDATE: “Shooter Kirpachi” sounds off – not here, but on Facebook. For some reason the goading banter she used to indulge in has slipped away; all that’s left is some slightly desperate-looking coarse abuse:

Such bravery behind a fake name.