Post by QPR Report on Jan 21, 2010 9:27:06 GMT
Liverpool Echo
Liverpool FC fans cleared after alleged ‘Yanks’ race slur against club owners
Jan 21 2010 by Luke Traynor, Liverpool Echo
TWO Liverpool fans were taken to court after police allegedly deemed their chants of “Yanks Out” against the club’s controversial owners as “racist.”
A leading UK football supporters organisation today condemned the attempted police prosecution as both men, one a leading member of Reds fans’ union Spirit of Shankly (SOS), were cleared at court within minutes.
James McKenna and another SOS colleague were hauled off the streets by officers during a peaceful protest against the American multi-millionaires Tom Hicks and George Gillett before the Liverpool game against Arsenal at Anfield in mid-December.
They were directing cries of “Yanks Out” to an expensive-looking vehicle, with blacked-out windows, which was driven through the Anfield Road gates towards the directors box entrance.
Mr McKenna, 22, and his friend, were apprehended by police who, according to him, said they were under arrest for “racist chanting”, specifically the use of the colloquial term for an American.
They were taken to Wavertree Road police station, kept for six hours, before being charged at 9pm with what is now described by Merseyside Police as “an offence of public order.”
But just over two weeks later, at the pair’s first appearance at court in Liverpool’s Community Justice Centre in Vauxhall, the Crown Prosecution Service immediately withdrew their case due to a perceived lack of evidence.
Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters Federation, who were so outraged they gave Mr McKenna legal advice, said he was taken aback by the police reaction to the use of the word “Yank”.
He told the ECHO: “It would be of grave concern if people who lead protests are particularly targeted by police or clubs.
“We live in a free society and people are entitled to put forward their opinions about their football club.
“This was clearly a protest against two particular people, not a general racist slur against Americans. I would be curious of how a court would have viewed this supposed offence.”
On December 13, up to 200 fans took part in the planned protest amid rumours both Tom Hicks and George Gillett planned to attend the fixture.
When one car pulled into the ground, some Reds fans mistakenly assumed the occupants were the American owners and a bout of chanting erupted.
In the event, neither of the owners went to the match although Foster Gillett, who sits on the Liverpool board, took his place in the stands.
Today, Mr McKenna, from Bootle, who has previously confronted Mr Gillett in the city’s Crown Plaza Hotel for an impromptu meeting, said: “I just shouted ‘Yanks Out!’
“The police were out on their horses and they grabbed me. When I asked what for they said: ‘For racism.’
“We were just there to make our point to the owners as we heard they were attending.”
A spokeswoman for Merseyside Police said: “Three men were arrested following a commotion on Anfield Road just after 2pm.
“A 22-year-old man from Bootle was arrested for using threatening, abusive or insulting words or disorderly behaviour within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress and was subsequently charged with a public order offence.
“A 30-year-old man from Dingle was also arrested and charged for a section five public order offence.
“Both men were bailed to appear at North Liverpool Community Justice Court where the charges were discontinued.”
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2010/01/21/liverpool-fc-fans-cleared-after-alleged-yanks-race-slur-against-club-owners-100252-25649604/
