Fans left outraged after hearing details of controversial planned protest

Fans of one Championship outfit have been left outraged after hearing details of a planned ‘taking the knee’ protest for this weekend.

It is understood that there was going be a organised demonstration outside the Cardiff City Stadium ahead of the game against Norwich City on Saturday.

However, by late Friday night, the decision was made to stop it from going ahead, with much relief to some of the Bluebirds fans.

A user named ‘Mafor’ on the Cardiff City Forum said: “This as a mark of respect to friends and family after the sad death this week of Mohamud Hassan in mysterious circumstances.

“It was apparent that some Black Lives Matter supporters may have attended and it would not be right to involve the club in this issue at such a sensitive time.

“There are still a lot of fans though who want to see an end to this taking the knee and do not want politics involved with their club.”

This then led to a number of fans praising the decision whilst others were shocked and disappointed at even hearing of the plans.

Another used, named Bobby Banks, wrote: “I agree. It’s the last thing our city needs right now, it’s the last thing the club needs right now and it’s the last thing Sol Bamba and the players need right now.”

Mad to think that the demonstration group wasn’t even considering about Sol Bamba, who is currently battling with cancer, with players applauding to show their respect towards him. Could have really made for an awkward moment if the boos from outside of the ground came as players were showing sympathy towards the club’s player.

One fan questioned: “So did you cancel because you were scared of being attacked or because you finally worked out why the players are taking the knee?”

Whilst another wrote: “So you admit that BLM and it’s supporters use violence and threats to intimidate anyone who disagrees with them?”

In response to being asked the first question, user skidemin said: “both i think…. the players are taking the knee in support of people who will attack those that do not agree….been happening for months….keep up at the back…”

Another person, who read of the details on the protest, said: “Was this actually a thing, how embarrassing.

“What a ridiculous idea 1) we are in a pandemic and you should only be protesting things that have an actual effect on your life 2) just do some research into the general treatment of black people in the last 300 years for a bit of perspective onto why people are so passionate about this.

“You’ll probably spout some nonsense about “all lives matter” or “BLM are a marxist group” blah blah which is irrelevant.”

User ‘Bobby Banks’ then added: “Fair enough. Well done mate. I think under the circumstances it’s the right thing to do. I can understand people if people who don’t agree with players taking the knee having the right to have their own views heard but I think in this instance and at this emotive time you have chosen to take an adult view of an ongoing situation. Imo I agree with this decision. Respect shown is respect earned in my book.”

To which, someone else replied: “Why are you congratulating him? He says ‘the organisers’ and he’s ‘been informed’, he would have attended if it was still going on!! Nothing to do with “his” view.just saying it was cancelled.”

Fair to say that footballer’s taking the knee is still a hot and controversial topic, with fans now unable to boo at players doing so from the stands with no supporters allowed through the turnstiles.

The protest sounds as though it would have been very similar to the one at Swansea City a little while back, as Swansea and Reading players took the knee.

The Welsh club heard the noise from outside the Liberty Stadium before their Championship draw with Reading on Wednesday night.

Players from both teams made the gesture – as is customary at most clubs – in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The video below is the type of planned protest that fans have been left outraged by…

Swansea saw their empty stadium go silent, though the sound of boos and horns blowing outside could be heard, causing a surprise for those in the stands. You can see everything the fans did in the video above!

Swansea City have not published any kind of statement of the fans booing players taking the knee, however it is understood that they will look into what happened.

When asked about the incident after the game, Swansea head coach Steve Cooper said: “I can’t really make a comment on it. I heard some noises but I couldn’t tell what it was.

“Let’s find out exactly what it was, the reasoning and rationale behind it, and I will give you a view of it then.

“But in terms of taking the knee, we are a club that’s continuing to commit to it.

“We did have some discussions with the (club’s) leadership team when there were some topical things going a couple of weeks ago, when some fans returned to stadiums.

“We made a joint decision that we wanted to continue with taking the knee.”

Protest organiser Bianca Ali can pay the fine or request a court hearinghttps://t.co/X1zymUEgjG

— BBC Wales News (@BBCWalesNews) January 15, 2021

BBC Sport reported that boos and the sound of horns blowing were clearly audible while players took the knee and for the first couple of minutes of the game.

“I was aware, but I didn’t understand what was going on so I’ve got no comment,” said Reading manager Veljko Paunovic.

Fans may have been left outraged after hearing details of controversial planned protest, but police have decided to fine a Black Lives Matter (BLM) activist named Bianca Ali, based in Cardiff after she was part of protests over the death of Mohamud Mohammed Hassan.

He was arrested on Friday the 8th of January 2021 after reports came in of a disturbance at his home, however he was released the following morning without charge.

He was found dead at the same property on Saturday evening, with his family claiming he had been assaulted while in custody. 

On Tuesday afternoon, a large crowd protested and chanted ‘no justice, no peace’ outside Cardiff Bay police station, holding signs ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘stop police brutality’.

Mohamud Hassan death: woman faces Covid fine over Cardiff protests – The Guardian – https://t.co/1A7tnaXPHC #Protest #Resist

— The Revolution Will Not Be Monetised (@WeResistNews) January 17, 2021

Bianca Ali said she had joined the demonstration because she believed the police had ‘murdered a black man’.

She said: ‘The police have murdered a black man. We want justice, we want transparency, we want answers, we want the truth.

‘We want them to know that we will not stand for this and we’re here to make an example of one death that it cannot continue and spiral into more.’

She added: ‘It was a young boy, he had a baby on the way, he was married, he was settled down, and he was arrested for a breach of the peace which resulted in his death.’

pic.twitter.com/J9qRoAzz0H

— Pie n Mash (@hostileholly5w) December 30, 2020

The BLM Cardiff group said: “The police took two riot vans to Bianca’s house and were banging repeatedly on her door. Please tell us why, other than disgusting intimidation tactics, that was needed?”

“As we said before, we did not organise these protests.”

BLM Cardiff added that “if anyone organised these protests, it’s the South Wales Police” because of their actions. “What did they expect people to do?” the group posted on Instagram.

“The movement cannot be stopped.” 

BLM Cardiff have raised more than £1,500 for the fines, wanting to pay the extra money to the Justice4Mohamud campaign.

Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) Cardiff added: “We call for this investigation to be swift and transparent. 

“Historically, South Wales Police has seen numerous officers charged for crimes, including the rape of two women and has convicted and falsely imprisoned black men for murder. 

“It is not just, and it continually shows us where their loyalty lies.”

Mohamud’s family state that he was assaulted by South Wales Police. 

Zainab Hassan, and aunt of his, said that he was released with “lots of wounds on his body.”

“Nothing we do is going to bring him back but we will not rest for a second until we have justice,” she added.

A neighbour claims that Mohamud’s grey tracksuit was covered in blood and that his mouth was severely injured.

IOPC director for Wales Catrin Evans said: ”Preliminary indications are that there is no physical trauma injury to explain a cause of death.” 

Solicitor Hilary Brown has asked how “a young, healthy man was arrested by South Wales Police with no apparent injuries to his body”. But then “as a result of being released from Cardiff Bay police station he was badly marked with bruising and cuts, and within hours was dead.”

“We want to know whether the allegations he made against officers of South Wales Police of being assaulted has contributed in any way to his demise,” she said. 

Would you, like the fans be outraged by any future planned protest at your club towards players taking the knee? Let us know your thoughts.