UWE | Vox Political

Some MPs – particularly those on the left of the political spectrum – are going to end up with proverbial egg on their faces after the scuffle involving Jacob Rees-Mogg at the University of the West of England.

It seems some were quick to condemn masked protesters who heckled Mr Rees-Mogg from the back of the hall in a confrontation that escalated until one man apparently tried to punch a supporter of the Conservative MP for North East Somerset.

https://twitter.com/RaheemKassam/status/959529976616947712

In fact, footage shows that a white-shirted supporter of Mr Rees-Mogg had slapped a student – and this is what prompted the protester to aim a punch.

The woman who was hit, Andreea Dumitrache, has tweeted about what happened:

The member of the audience in the white shirt started getting violent towards the people being disruptive. I was standing in front of him when he punched me. No student was violent here. https://t.co/TKH2kjC9fR

— Andreea (@_andreeatweets) February 2, 2018

He was clearly a supporter but it didn't look like it was someone from Mogg's team. He was seated in the middle of the room and he was taken by campus security for interview

— Andreea (@_andreeatweets) February 2, 2018

It is now clear that the violence was initiated by a supporter of Mr Rees-Mogg – not by the protesters, who have been described as being of the far left. Do we have any proof of that?

Here’s some more analysis:

https://twitter.com/june_randeria/status/959747923876700160

it is pretty clear that the white shirted man attacked and the hooded man responded. To me this shows we need more non-violence training. Its very hard not to respond to violence with violence, takes practice but it matters

— Sarah May (@Sarah_May1) February 3, 2018

But this is only one side of the story, of course. Would you like to see what supporters of Mr Rees-Mogg have to say?

Brace yourself:

https://twitter.com/aintnotnever/status/959771046219010048

https://twitter.com/VicNocal/status/959540147388731393

https://twitter.com/Leapy6/status/959777703988690944

Here’s a comment sent in response to This Site’s previous article about the incident, from a person who was too cowardly to provide his own name but instead went by the imaginative pseudonym ‘z’:

look up the definition of a common assault spakka.

whiny left tries to deflect from yet another example of its own violent, hateful extremism.

According to the Urban Dictionary, a “spakka” (there are many different spellings, presumably indicating the illiteracy of those who use the word) is a derogatory term for people with mental and/or physical disabilities.

So this Rees-Mogg supporter is someone who discriminates against the disabled in the most insulting way possible. And they support physical attacks against other people. Despicable.

By the way, everyone who trains as a news reporter has to learn the definitions of certain crimes, including common assault. Assault happens when a person intentionally or recklessly causes another to believe they will be the victim of unlawful force. Actual harmful or offensive physical contact – like a punch – is legally defined as battery. White shirt man appears to commit both in the video evidence we’ve seen, although a jury may be asked to make the final decision.

So, not only is ‘z’ the kind of creature who tries to put other people down with derogatory language, they also pretend to know more than they do – again, to put others down. On top of all that, they then accuse others of “violent, hateful extremism”.

To that person, I say: If you want to see a violent, hateful extremist, just look in a mirror.

Eddie Briggs, below, makes an appropriate observation in a much milder way than I would have:

https://twitter.com/eddiesurfs/status/959777606265724928

Final verdicts? Mixed. Try this:

The violence was apparently started Mogg supporter, but the protest was idiotic. As yesterday in the Commons showed, the best way to humiliate Mogg is not to shout him down, but to let him speak.

— Chris Corney (@ChrisCorney1) February 3, 2018

But then there’s this:

So let me get this straight. Jacob Rees Mogg (homophobic who says women who get pregnant through rape shouldn't be allowed an abortion) has a group of students protest at one of his talks. A Rees-Mogg supporter hits one of the female protesters. And Corbyn is to blame? Okay 🤨

— Anita🌹 (@a_nitak) February 3, 2018

Good point. The protesters had to be labelled as supporters of Jeremy Corbyn. Were they? And if they were, is he really to blame for their actions, which were simply to protest verbally until rent-a-thug turned up.

But let’s stay on the subject of Mr Corbyn, because this last bombshell is perhaps more pertinent than any of the others. It’s from Aleesha, who tweeted (and I’m going to have to quote her because for some reasons the tweet isn’t reproducing here):

“Honestly, there’s more outrage over the fact that Jacob Rees-Mogg was *not* hit than there was outrage over the fact that this week, it became apparent that a terrorist literally planned to assassinate Jeremy Corbyn.”

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