Express & Star

Two held after EDL trouble flares in Walsall

Two people have been charged with racially aggravated public order offences after a protest in the Black Country.

Published

A 22-year-old man from Walsall and a 28-year-old man from Wolverhampton will appear in front of magistrates on June 18 after a group of around 20 people draped in St George flags and believed to be English Defence League members, gathered in Walsall town centre on Saturday.

There was a large police presence as the protesters congregated around Yate's bar in Leicester Street, at the cenotaph in Bradford Place and near Walsall Art Gallery in Gallery Square from around 1pm. It is thought they met to vent anger at the killing of soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich.

It comes after a similar protest in Wolverhampton on Friday when EDL members, including the far-right group's leader Tommy Robinson, temporarily blocked Birmingham New Road.

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