A Labour councillor has been arrested and charged with encouraging violent disorder, following a speech he gave at an 'anti-racist' demonstration in London on Wednesday evening. Cllr Ricky Jones spent Thursday night in custody, after a clip of him circulated online in which he described those behind recent violence as 'Nazi fascists' who should have their throats cut and got rid of. He made a throat slitting gesture with his finger as he made the statement, which was met with cheers and applause by those around him.
Cllr Jones, of Dartford Borough Council, was speaking at a protest in Walthamstow. Some of the protesters around him were holding Socialist Worker placards which bore the slogan: 'Smash fascism and racism - by any means necessary' - in itself arguably an incitement to violence. Cllr Jones may well have taken inspiration from those words. A woman in an orange high-vis vest standing next to him looked initially taken aback by his throat cutting message, but quickly began cheering, clapping and laughing. Cllr Jones then took up a chant of 'Free, free Palestine'.
The clip can be seen below.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed his arrest in a tweet, saying that 'a man in his 50s' was being held 'on suspicion of encouraging murder and for an offence under the Public Order Act'. He has since been charged with a lesser count of 'encouraging violent disorder' and appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday afternoon. The case was adjourned pending a pre-trial hearing on September 6th and Cllr Jones was remanded in custody.
Cllr Jones has represented the Princes ward in Dartford since 2019. He was suspended by Labour on Thursday and a statement from Dartford Labour described his behaviour as 'totally unacceptable'.
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