A Tory councillor is being investigated by his party over his comments on the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.<\/p>\n
Portsmouth’s The News\u00a0<\/em>reported<\/a> on 25 February that online comments by local councillor Ken Smith were being scrutinised.<\/p>\n Smith is said to have posted a comment in relations to athletes taking a knee during a recent England Vs Scotland Rugby match. The Conservative politician posted: <\/span><\/p>\n Why are all the Scottish players taking the knee? <\/span>Can it really be to commemorate the life time criminal, high on drugs, who was inadvertently killed four thousand miles away in America?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Smith appears to have been referring to George Floyd, the African-American man whose police killing sparked global protests against state violence and structural racism in 2020.<\/p>\n Smith has since expanded his criticisms of BLM, telling<\/a> The News\u00a0<\/em>that the practice of kneeling in solidarity<\/p>\n was all motivated by the Black Lives Matter organisation. <\/span>It\u2019s not just a means of paying homage to the person who died, it\u2019s actually a nasty group of left-wing extremists who are exploiting this, and a lot of people are doing the taking-the-knee thing and they don\u2019t know what it\u2019s about.<\/span><\/p>\n People have jumped on the bandwagon \u2013 troublemakers, I\u2019m talking about – and are using the kneeling as way of causing alarm and dissent, I really believe that I truly believe that sports and politics should not go together.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n He also denied being a racist, citing past business dealings and Christmas cards as evidence:<\/p>\n No one has any grounds to call me colour prejudiced in any way. In 30 years of business I have visited and done business with every country in the world, except China, South America, and Myanmar. <\/span>I get Christmas cards from Muslims, and Buddhists, and Jewish people, because I am never, ever racial or critical of other nations.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n It is not clear if Smith comprehends that South America is not itself a country.<\/p>\n There has been resistance to the BLM movement at all levels of the Conservative Party.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Home Secretary Priti Patel told LBC she doesn't support the 'dreadful' Black Lives Matter protests and wouldn't take the knee.https:\/\/t.co\/WDQ1u7SjaB<\/a><\/p>\n — LBC (@LBC) February 12, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n“I get Christmas cards from Muslims”.<\/span><\/h5>\n
Dreadful protests?<\/h5>\n
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