Video shows group of masked men shouting "September 11, International Burn a Quran Day" and "This is for the boys in Afghanistan" before setting fire to the Muslim holy book
Video shows group of masked men shouting "September 11, International Burn a Quran Day" and "This is for the boys in Afghanistan" before setting fire to the Muslim holy book
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Six suspects were seized after allegedly setting fire to the Muslim holy book in the backyard of a pub. The men, who hid their faces, then posted the video of the burning on the popular website.
In the film the gang are seen gathered round a copy of the Quran in the backyard of The Bugle pub in Leam Lane, Felling, Gateshead.u00a0
Masked faces
Appearing with what seems to be tea towels wrapped around their heads, the men show the holy book to the
camera before dousing it with fuel from a red can and lighting it.u00a0
One man in a grey Adidas tracksuit and white trainers, who has a blue cloth wrapped around his head makes a series of obscene gestures towards the book as it burns.u00a0
Laughing, the track-suited gang shouts, "This is for the boys in Afghanistan.u00a0 September 11, international burn a Quran day, for all the people of 9/11. "This is how we do it in Gateshead, right."
One man then attempts to add more fuel, but instead sets the plastic petrol can on fire.u00a0
He then kicks the book across the yard, leaving a trail of flames which he is forced to hastily stamp out.u00a0
Police visited The Bugle last Wednesday after the video was posted online.
Two men were arrested on suspicion of stirring racial hatred, and have since been released on bail.u00a0
On Wednesday, four more Gateshead men were arrested and bailed. None were charged.
In a joint statement, Northumbria Police and Gateshead Council condemned the book burning.u00a0
"The kind of behaviour displayed in this video is not at all representative of our community as a whole," said the spokesman.
Police confirmed the arrests were in relation to burning the book, not for making, distributing or watching the video.
"On Wednesday, September 22, four men from Gateshead were arrested on suspicion of stirring racial hatred," a spokesman said.
| What sparked off this incident? |
| In the video, which the men posted on YouTube, they hid their faces behind towels and swore and danced after setting the Quran on fire. The whole 'hate incident' stems from the news of a mosque being built at the 9/11 site, which many saw as an utter sign of disregard to the victims of the terror attacks. |
| Burning fiasco |
| Reverend Terry Jones, a Florida pastor had threatened to burn 200 copies of the Quran on the ninth anniversary of the attacks. He was warned by President Barack Obama that the plan could be used to recruit extremists. He only agreed to cancel the event on one condition that the controversial plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero in New York were axed. |
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