A counter-protester appeared in court yesterday after allegedly using a fake AK-47 to threaten far-Right agitator Tommy Robinson and the English Defence League in a social media video.
Habeeb Khan, 49, from the Sparkbrook area of Birmingham, is accused of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence to the EDL, sending threats of death or serious harm, and verbally abusing a police officer.
West Midlands Police said the charges were linked to a video ‘which was circulated on social media on Monday night’.
The video was posted on the same night that hundreds of Muslim men gathered in the Bordesley Green area of the city to confront a rumoured far-Right rally, which never materialised.
In the clip, which has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times online, a masked man says to the camera, while wielding what appears to be an AK-47: ‘Hey, Tommy Robinson, you want to play rough, hey? OK, come on! You want to play rough? I’ll blow you away!’
The clip then cuts to a different angle where the man, now wearing a mixed martial arts T-shirt, can be seen slotting the ammunition clip into the firearm before turning to the camera and saying: ‘EDL, we are going to come and f****** blow you away.’
During a brief hearing at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court yesterday, Khan was charged with possessing ‘an imitation firearm, namely an AK-47, with intent, by means thereof to cause the EDL, to believe that unlawful violence would be used against them’ between August 5 and August 6.
He is further charged with sending ‘a message that conveyed a threat of serious harm, namely sending a communication threatening death or serious harm, intending, or being reckless as to whether, an individual encountering the message would fear that the threat would be carried out’ on the same dates.
The defendant is also accused of using abusive language with the intent to cause harassment, harm or offence to a West Midlands Police officer on August 7.
West Midlands Police had earlier said that the charge related to ‘homophobic abuse’.
Khan indicated a plea of not guilty to possession of an imitation firearm and the other two offences were sent to Birmingham Crown Court as linked.
District Judge David Wain remanded Khan in custody until his next appearance before Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday, August 14.