Nick Griffin in electioneering scuffle in Chester
Article published: Thursday, May 14th 2009
Leader of the BNP drenched by a passing member of public
The leader of the British National Party (BNP), Nick Griffin, was soaked last week when a member of the public threw a drink over him outside Chester Town Hall as he distributed party literature.
Bystanders told of how the man was then physically restrained by Griffin’s personal bodyguards until police arrived.
He was then detained, released without charge and has subsequently been issued with a caution. It is now up to Griffin whether the matter will be taken further.
It is believed the assault was not premeditated, nor was the assailant a member a political grouping. In the past, the BNP have invariably labelled the source of altercations as left-wing thugs allied to the Labour Party.
‘Id just come out McDonalds with my Mum and I saw Griffin handing out his racist propaganda, said the man, aged 22, who cannot be named.
I thought to myself I dont want any fascists in my town and did the first thing which came to mind, which was to throw my drink over him.
As soon as I did it, his skinhead bodyguards jumped on me quite roughly and kept me pinned to the floor. At the station the police were quite nice about it all.
Eyewitnesses report how a cheer went up when the drink container was launched at the BNP leader.
The BNP are aiming to win a seat in the North West region in the European elections which take place on the 4 June.
Chester has long been a Conservative stronghold but the BNP are looking to exploit fears of immigration against the backdrop of recession. They target the city as fertile territory since winning a council seat in nearby Hawarden. Cheshire has one of the lowest ethnic minority populations in England but the extreme-right outfit are hoping to capitalise on the loss of faith in Labour in former industrial towns such as Runcorn, Northwich and Crewe, where Labour ignominiously lost an historically safe seat in a by-election last year.
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