Faces of those fuelling anger on streets
1: THE SOCIALIST WORKER
ONE of the most vocal members of the Justice4Grenfell group is a long-serving activist with affiliation to the far-Left Socialist Worker Party.
Moyra Samuels, a teacher who lives near Grenfell Tower, yesterday said she believed more people died than the official police figure of 71.
The 61-year-old activist told Sky News: ‘It is not just me but there are others from a range of backgrounds including priests in the area who believe the numbers are higher, but it’s very difficult for us to challenge that.
‘We struggled to actually get from the council who they had on their list officially living there. We also know it was Ramadan at the time so people were visiting. We believe there may well not be remains of a lot of people and I think that’s what the community believe on the ground.’
2: THE RABBLE-ROUSER
A VETERAN rabble-rouser was at the centre of the dissent stirred up after the Grenfell fire.
Ishmahil Blagrove became the darling of the anti-media radicals when a video of him ranting at a reporter in the shadow of the gutted building went viral on Facebook. In the clip, he says ‘f*** the media’ and calls for a revolution.
Mr Blagrove, 49, said ‘sometimes all it takes is a spark’ as he highlighted the 2011 riots that swept Britain.
‘I’m already hearing messages of people mobilising, of police intercepting messages on Facebook,’ he said. ‘We saw what could happen in this country in 2011, over the shooting of Mark Duggan. There are real issues in the underbelly of society that frustrate people.’
He launched Justice4Grenfell with a speech warning: ‘You know me and when I’m ready to start a fire I’ll start a fire.’
He added that ‘if we burn down anywhere’ it might be Chelsea.
3: THE ANTISEMITE
AN activist who runs a volunteer network for survivors claims Grenfell victims were ‘burnt alive in a Jewish sacrifice’.
Tahra Ahmed said the inferno was a ‘holocaust’ at a town hall protest two days after the disaster. The 47-year-old has gained prominence as a Grenfell volunteer by running workshops for those affected by the tragedy.
But she has repeatedly made antisemitic outbursts and has claimed that the 9/11 terror attack was faked by Jews. Miss Ahmed, who lives in London, has previously described Hitler’s massacre of Jews as the ‘holohoax’.
And in previous comments, the activist has said: ‘Grenfell is owned by a private Jewish property developer just like the Twin Towers. I wonder how much Goldman [Sachs] is standing to make in the world’s most expensive real estate location, [Kensington].’
Goldman Sachs has had no involvement in the disaster apart from donating 100 boxes of children’s clothing and books, helping former residents get access to technology and matching employees’ appeal donations.
Mark Gardner, of the Community Security Trust, which monitors antisemitism, told The Times: ‘To describe the appalling Grenfell Tower disaster as a
4: THE TRADE UNIONIST
TRADE unionist Cathy Cross has been a vocal and often disruptive presence at Grenfell Tower meetings. Despite living outside the borough, she heckled the new leader of Kensington & Chelsea council at the latest meeting. As Elizabeth Campbell was making an opening address, Miss Cross, 54, shouted: ‘You have blood on your hands.’
Miss Cross is the national campaigns officer for the Public and Commercial Services Union. She was invited by shadow chancellor John McDonnell to speak at a fringe event on ‘tax justice’ at this year’s Labour conference.
She has previously referred to herself as a rabble-rouser and posted about having a ‘Trot tendency’ on social media.