Police are investigating after a hooded figure was seen spraying graffiti that read ‘No Whites’ on the wall outside a Birmingham primary school.
Community figures say the individual responsible – seen on grainy CCTV footage in the early hours of Thursday – is attempting to sow division in the wake of the riots that shamed Britain in recent weeks.
Video shared on TikTok by Brummie community figure Naveed Sadiq showed the figure walking furtively up to the wall outside Shaw Hill Primary School in the city’s Alum Rock area.
The individual is then seen looking around before spraying ‘No Whites’ on the wall and then leaving the area.
Similar graffiti was also sprayed in Langton Road and Farndon Road, each 200 metres away from the school. However, there is no suggestion at this time that the same person is responsible for all three hateful slogans.
The video footage shows a hooded individual walking up to a wall at Shaw Hill Primary School in Birmingham’s Alum Rock area
It was shared online by community activist Naveed Sadiq, who claims that whoever is responsible for the hateful slogan is seeking to stoke community tensions
Other graffiti bearing the same slogan was sprayed on nearby streets less than 200 metres away
One of the slogans was sprayed outside Shaw Hill Primary School in Birmingham’s Alum Rock area
It came just weeks after hundreds of Muslim men turned out in nearby Bordesley Green to see off a rumoured far-right gathering
Police say they are investigating the vandalism, and have stepped up patrols to quell community fears in the meantime.
The concerning graffiti was shared on social media by community activist Naveed Sadiq, known online as ‘Bearded Baes’.
He has claimed that whoever is responsible is seeking to stoke tensions between communities – and comes amid heightened tensions in the area following riots in the wake of the Southport killings.
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Mr Sadiq said in his TikTok, filmed outside the school: ‘As you can see on this wall it says ‘No Whites’. This is not something which we as a community tolerate.
‘I have reported it and the police will be coming down and we will be checking the CCTV to see whether the perpetrator of this message was from the white community (or) the Asian community.’
He later says it is not possible to identify who is responsible.
Speaking over the CCTV, Mr Sadiq says: ‘You can see this individual approaching the wall. We can’t establish whether he’s from (the Asian) community or the white community.
‘The only thing we can establish is that somebody is trying to create racial tensions.
‘The police are now involved in this situation. You will be found, you will be charged and you will be prosecuted.
‘This is not an isolated incident. This is one of many.
He later added: ‘Everyone is welcome in Alum Rock.’
The video was captioned: ‘Everyone is welcome – we will not be divided.’
MailOnline has contacted Mr Sadiq for further comment.
The incident led to windows at the Clumsy Swan pub being damaged (pictured) – and members of the Muslim community, including Mr Sadiq, apologising to pub-goers and staff
A Sky News broadcast, meanwhile, was interrupted by a man who shouted ‘free Palestine, f*** EDL’ live on air
The Alum Rock area of Birmingham is home to a predominantly BAME population – including 16,836 Pakistanis that make up 60.1 percent of its residents
A West Midlands Police spokesperson told the Telegraph of the incident: ‘We are investigating after graffiti was sprayed at locations around the Alum Rock area.
‘An investigation is under way to identify who is responsible, and we are carrying out CCTV enquiries.
‘We are in contact with the community and will be carrying out patrols in the area. We are working with the local authority to ensure the graffiti is promptly removed.
‘Anyone who can help with our investigation can contact us via Live Chat on our website, or by calling 101, quoting crime reference 20/632434/24.’
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MailOnline has contacted the force for further comment.
It follows a similar incident in 2017, when graffiti that read ‘No whites allowed after 8pm’ appeared in an area of Alum Rock.
Mr Sadiq was recently seen shaking hands with pub-goers in the Clumsy Swan pub in nearby Bordesley Green after hundreds of Muslims gathered in the area to see off a rumoured far-right gathering in the wake of the Southport stabbings.
Disorder in the area saw a pub-goer attacked by a masked gang of young men and left with minor injuries and windows of the pub smashed after they were allegedly told members of the English Defence League (EDL) were inside.
The community activist was among those to later apologise to guests at the Clumsy Swan while Linda Ward, the pub’s landlady, told Sky News members of the Muslim community had later offered to pay for damages.
She also said the individual in the video who was attacked would be barred amid claims he had provoked the group who then attacked him.
‘After the man came outside and he got attacked, the majority of the people that were on the march put a stop to that, protected him, kept him safe,’ she said.
The pub later said on Facebook: ‘We would like to thank you all for your well wishes and a big thank you to those at Sheldon Mosque who have reached out to us with apologies from their community and offer to pay for damages.
‘Hopefully we will have no more trouble on the streets of Birmingham we are proud of our multicultural city. Let’s keep it that way.’
Mr Sadiq said in a video shared with BBC News: ‘I can only rightly say to the management here that we’re very sorry at what has happened here today – that is not a true reflection of who we are as a community.’
Masked men on a roundabout in Bordesley Green on August 5 – amid rumours of a far-right gathering in the area that never materialised
Damage dealt to the Clumsy Swan pub amid disorder in Bordesley Green – for which the Muslim community later apologised
The Clumsy Swan later thanked members of a local mosque for apologising on behalf of the Muslim community and offering to pay damages
The disorder also saw a Sky News broadcast interrupted by a foul-mouthed protester on a motorbike who said ‘free Palestine, f*** EDL’, and a broadcast van allegedly attacked by a man with a knife.
Police have arrested a number of individuals in connection with the wider disruption at Bordesley Green and charged a 17-year-old boy with violent disorder.
Alum Rock is predominantly home to people of colour: more than nine in ten people in the council ward are Black, Asian or Middle-Eastern (BAME), according to census data collated by Birmingham City Council, while 6.4 per cent of residents are white.
By comparison, the city-wide population of Birmingham is 51.4 per cent BAME and 48.6 per cent white.
Disorder across the country was stoked by misinformation shared by the far-right online, claiming the Southport attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker who had arrived in Britain from abroad.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, who was born in Cardiff, has been charged with the murders of three young girls and the attempted murder of 10 others.
A Pakistani web developer who was alleged to be one of the people responsible for sharing the false information, meanwhile, has been cleared.
