Carl Benjamin: Milkshake thrown at Ukip candidate who made rape remarks about Labour MP
Three milkshakes in three days hit Ukip’s tour of Devon and Cornwall
Far-right agitator and Ukip European election candidate Carl Benjamin has had three milkshakes thrown at him in three days as he tours the south west of England.
The latest incident saw Mr Benjamin doused in the sweet drink by protesters in the market town of Totnes in Devon.
The soaked prospective MEP was led away from crowds cheering his misfortune, as police separated Mr Benjamin’s supporters from demonstrators.
He had been due to make an address alongside far-right figure Milo Yiannopolous.
Police said one person was arrested for throwing the milkshake.
Milkshakeing: New tactic emerges in fight against far-right
Milkshakeing: New tactic emerges in fight against far-right
1/5 Tommy Robinson covered in a milkshake...
2/5 ...the day after being covered with a milkshake
3/5 Gerrard Batten's image
4/5 Carl Benjamin milkshaked
5/5 Aftermath
1/5 Tommy Robinson covered in a milkshake...
2/5 ...the day after being covered with a milkshake
3/5 Gerrard Batten's image
4/5 Carl Benjamin milkshaked
5/5 Aftermath
A video shows the immediate aftermath of the drink being upended over his head.
On Friday, Mr Benjamin’s tour got off to an ignominious start when he first had kippers thrown at him, before a milkshake was hurled in his direction in Truro, Cornwall.
On Saturday he arrived in Plymouth, where the Ukip bus was given a parking ticket and then hit with a milkshake. The bus features a large picture of party leader Gerard Batten, and reporters at Plymouth Live noted “someone had apparently thrown milkshake over its side, with the liquid running like tears down Mr Batten's face”.
He reportedly told the Plymouth crowd that people should be able to make jokes about rape.
Mr Benjamin is currently being investigated by police over repeated comments about whether he would rape the MP Jess Phillips, amid growing concern over threats to politicians.
After his stop in Totnes on Sunday, Mr Benjamin was then delayed from his next appearance in Exeter on Monday after the van he was to travel in had its tyres slashed.
During his appearance in Exeter, Mr Benjamin had to be separated from protesters by police after he reportedly tried to debate with them.
Ahead of Mr Benjamin’s arrival in Totnes on Sunday, a spokesperson for Totnes Together Against Hate Group said: “Using the pretext of the European elections, these attention-seekers and darlings of the alt-right have decided to ‘have some fun’ – according to the Ukip Totnes website – at the expense of Totnes and its citizens.
“Local activists and community members will gather at an alternative venue in town to show solidarity with the victims of hate speech, including women parliamentarians Jo Cox and Jess Phillips.
“We deplore Benjamin’s use of rape threats, currently under investigation by the police, both men’s regular use of racist tropes, their active wooing of white supremacists and conspiracy theorists, and their designation of feminism as ‘a cancer’.”
The group added: “We note that Yiannopoulos was recently banned from Australia for blaming the Christchurch mosque massacre on ‘the establishment pander[ing] to barbaric alien cultures’. We affirm that Totnes is a place of peace, progress and tolerance, where these ideas have no place.”
Totnes Police said: “The Totnes Neighbourhood Team were supported by the Specialist Force Support Group but as pockets of disorder broke out, extra officers from Ivybridge, Newton Abbot and Torquay were drafted in to remain on standby in anticipation of further disorder.
“Luckily that did not happen. One arrest was made for throwing a milkshake.”
Milkshakes have gained currency among those protesting far-right campaigns after EDL-founder and far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon was hit with milkshakes twice in two days while campaigning in Bury and Warrington earlier this month. He is standing as an independent in the forthcoming European elections.
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