Matthew’s Story: A War With Many Fronts

Last week Dymphna wrote about EDL sympathizer Matthew Stiddard’s encounter with the police . The former Australian Defence League leader Martin Brennan — who is native English, and was deported from Oz recently for failing to file proper immigration paperwork — has been staying with Mr. Stiddard since his arrival in England. Tundra Tabloids also recently posted an article about Martin Brennan, which described the attempt by the police to “turn” Mr. Stiddard.

Now Matthew Stiddard has written his own statement about the whole affair, and Nilk has posted it at Vlad Tepes. She says:

My mate Martin Brennan has been staying with a fellow called Matthew Stiddard. Martin was deported from Australia officially due to a breach of visa, but seeing as Martin had never been in trouble with the police nor had any notification from DIAC about any visa irregularities, I wonder if that was really it.

That’s for another day, so we’ll leave that for now.

Matthew was interviewed by VladTepes, and I’ve also gotten to know him. He’s starting to get a bit of a profile now, and he’s concerned that there might be some misconceptions floating around with respect to his current police…. challenges … and what’s happening with the leadership of the EDL.

For the record, Matthew has never made any comment about why the police would be interested in Martin. In conversation he has made it quite clear that it’s not a path he would like to travel down.

Here’s Matthew Stiddard’s account, as posted at Vlad:

My Story

On the 9th of April 2011 I made a video called Intifada on the request of the then leader of the Jewish Defence League and it went live on the WWW, shortly after this I started receiving threats of violence through my letterbox to the sound of nazi scum, fascist and many unpleasant four letter words, I took no notice of this and threw the letters in the bin, thinking that they were just words to scare me off. Then at the beginning of May that year I received a letter saying ‘fascist c**t, you are next’ doing what I always did throwing it in the bin only to be awoken two days later at around 1.30am to the sound of my windows being banged and being told that my Landrover Discovery was on fire and that the flames were lapping over my bungalow.

I hear you asking how did they find out it was my video, someone put their name to my video claiming that they did it, in a group on Facebook which at the time was filled with trolls (left wing nut jobs), what this person didn’t realize was that I always show my new video’s to a couple of people just before they go live, a sort of pre-screening well these people jumped to my defence and said it was not his claim but mine and gave my full name. My profile picture on Facebook is of my two dogs and at the time I had the name of the village were I lived, being of only 200 homes it wasn’t hard to find me especially when you have a large number of Unite Against Fascism (UAF) 10 miles up the road in Exeter. Stupid I know… since then I have had to be aware of what is around me and I have had to keep changing my routine when it comes to walking my dogs.

I have made 15 video’s all together 2 for different divisions of the English Defence League (EDL) and 2 for my fellow Australians, the rest was for myself highlighting different aspects of islam.

22nd of September 2011

On this morning at 8am BST police officers entered my home and immediately seizing my laptop and a number of mobile phones belonging to myself and Martin (who is currently staying with me while he sorts himself out) and was visiting his friends near London at the time. They even tried taking two musical CD’s by a band called Anglo Saxon thinking it was something to do with right-wing extremist propaganda. The police went into my bedroom and headed straight for Martin’s bag where he has clothing and his passport and documents of who he is and his deportation information. Two police officers spent between 40 and 60 minutes looking at these documents taking information from the documents and on two occasions taking his passport and other documents outside to make phone calls, only one can guess why they did this. They searched every corner of my home including the garden and the allotment up the road. I was then arrested due to medical grounds which have nothing to do with my chosen path in standing against the worldwide jihad movement. I was then taken to the police station to be formally charged.

On arrival I had to be signed in and give over my details, I was asked if I had any religious beliefs or special food requirements, my reply was…

‘I do not eat any halal food or any halal certified foods’ in return the police officer sad ‘I am being serious’ in which I replied ‘does it look like I am f****** joking….No halal’ was I rude, arrogant or stupid in saying this or was I, a man for standing by my principles.

The police then had 6 hours to go through my laptop gaining access to my video’s, articles, resources and the many anti-jihad blogs and websites that I have stored on my laptop. I was then interviewed at 6pm BST firstly about my arrest connected to my medical condition which I believe was a poor excuse to enter my home. They then turned to other matters concerning my involvement in the counter jihad, they seem to know all about my video’s, my youtube channel, the demonstrations I attend around the country, my web activities and the fact that I look through council planning applications for mosques and islamic community centres so I can then pass them on to a lawyer, so he can fight to stop them being built. I replied that I had not been arrested for this so I do not have to answer your questions the whole interview lasted around 9 minutes.

This investigation is still on going, in other words they have nothing on me and want to try and find something. I was released at 9pm to answer bail on the 7th of November were I will find out if I am going to be charged with racial and religious assault and/or exciting racial hatred.

Wednesday the 28th September 2011

At around 10am on this morning I had a visit yet again to my home but this time by the Police Intelligence Unit (PIU) wanting to ask me some questions. On entering my home they asked if Martin was here on replying no he is visiting friends they (PIU) made contact with another officer on his phone saying ‘it is okay’ a few phone calls were received to make sure they were safe I mean what can I do with the ill health I have towards officers of the British police force.

They seem to have a lot of intelligence not just on myself and Martin but the whole off the EDL within the South West of England, but, it also seems that the intelligence they have is all jumbled up and they are trying to cross the T’s and dot the I’s like having a 5,000 piece jigsaw puzzle of bake beans without having the picture.

They were asking me what positions people held, how the divisions were set up, they asked what my links were to other groups, did I know this person or that person and as with every question came the same answer I don’t now anything or anyone. They asked what my links were to the EDL and I said that I have no links to the EDL I work for myself in exposing the true nature of Islam. They asked what involvement Martin had I replied ‘that he has had no involvement since being in the U.K apart from going to a couple of demonstrations’ one being the counter demonstration on 9/11 against Muslims Against Crusades (MAC) one can only speculate why they asked this maybe they are interested in what is on his phone as this was the only phone that they have not had access to. I do believe that we will all find out what is on his phone over the next few days. If I did and I mean IF I did know anything then I would rather do 10 years in prison than help was my final reply to the above questions.

They even asked if I knew anyone within the groups of the UAF and MAC ‘they are the enemies why would I know any of them’ was my reply. The question was then put to me that if I knew of a terrorist attack on the U.K would I inform the police my reply ‘I do this to protect my country of course I would, you think that I would allow them to do this to my country’. This question seems a little bizarre as if I would just sit back and turn a blind eye to an on coming attack on my homeland.

After getting no where with the questions the real insult came, they offered to pay all my expenses to travel all around the U.K to demonstrations and in return to supply them with intelligence. As if I would turn on my brothers and sisters who are the only people brave enough to stand against the onslaught of radical Islam and the Islamists that are hell bent on destroying my beautiful country and all the hopes and freedoms that she gives. I did by the way refuse this offer

Like I said to the officer I do not pay any money for membership to the EDL, I am not a member of the EDL, I understand why they do what they do, I even have the same concerns as the EDL and have shown my support for them by turning up at a few of their demonstrations and I will always show support to the volunteers of the EDL but this does not mean that I am a member of the EDL. What I do I do for myself and to show people the truth with what is really going on.

I have had threats of violence, been followed and had my Landrover Discovery set on fire by the left-wing nut jobs that plague our country, the police even know the group responsible to a degree, yet no arrests or questioning to these people have been made to date and I am the one that finds myself in police cells while my laptop and phone has been seized and getting visits from police intelligence.

That is all I have to say and hope that there is enough information there for you also here is a link to my youtube channel. The video titled the false prophet is not mine I just uploaded it for a friend as youtube wouldn’t let him put it on his channel.

— Matthew

Nilk includes this afterword:

One thing to think about here is that while the EDL has many members, there are also many more who identify with it although they do not join. We have had the same experience here with what I call the ‘fledgling’ Australian Defence League.

I attended the recent BDS anti-Max Brenner (what’s racist about hot chocolate?) with some friends, and there were others there who likewise felt a need to witness the growing anti-semitism in our country. I was sent a link to a photo that claimed to be of 2 ADL members, and one other person of indeterminate origin.

I was the only person there who has ever identified as being with the ADL, and I wasn’t in the photo. The others are friends who happen to agree with me that fascism of any sort, whether doled out by socialists, ageing commies or those who are determined to push an islamist agenda, is not welcome.

My friends are like Matthew. They make their stands in their own ways, and not necessarily by waving a banner.

This is a war with many fronts, and Matthew knows it.