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Video of Habeeb Khan with ‘ornamental’ AK-47 rifle went viral on X during the summer riots in England
A man who posed with an “ornamental” AK-47 rifle and threatened to “blow away” the English Defence League during the summer riots has been jailed for more than two years.
Habeeb Khan, 49, appeared in a social media video holding the decommissioned gun while threatening violence as disorder spread across England.
A judge was told the “inflammatory” video was shared widely on far-right social media accounts, gaining 1.4m views on a single extreme rightwing account on X.
The clip, played to Birmingham crown court on Monday, showed Khan fitting a magazine to the Kalashnikov and saying: “EDL, we’re coming to fucking blow you away you motherfuckers.”
Other parts of the video, in which threats were made to Tommy Robinson, the former leader of the now defunct group, were not played to the sentencing hearing.
A T-shirt Khan was wearing in an 11-second clip from the video was found on the washing line of his home when he was arrested on 7 August, two days after serious disorder in the nearby Bordesley Green area of Birmingham.
The prosecutor, Laurie Scott, told the court that the clip was shared by numerous accounts on X, including by one with a message saying of Khan: “The most serious threat to protesters everywhere. This Muslim has an automatic assault rifle and says he’s coming for the EDL. All mosques need raiding now.”
Scott said the decommissioned rifle, which was recovered by police on 7 August, was incapable of firing live rounds and was “in effect ornamental”. During his arrest, the court heard, Khan told officers: “All I have done is make a little video,” before he started “playing up” for a crowd that had gathered.
Khan, of Sparkbrook, Birmingham, pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to making threats of death or serious harm contrary to the Online Safety Act. He also admitted threatening behaviour relating to homophobic and abusive comments made after he was taken to hospital by police on the day of his arrest.
Sunit Sandhu, mitigating, said Khan had health problems, including bipolar disorder and cellulitis. He added: “He pleaded guilty at trial on the basis of being reckless and he himself not uploading the video. He realises the consequences of his actions and is genuinely remorseful.”
As of 2 December, more than 900 people had appeared in court charged in connection with the summer riots, which were sparked by the murder of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance club in Southport on 29 July. Of the 649 defendants whose cases have concluded, 494 were jailed, according to the latest official data.
Sentencing Khan to 27 months in prison, judge Melbourne Inman KC said: “Sadly this is one of a number of cases that this court has had to deal with which arise out of civil unrest which itself followed from the very tragic events in Southport on 29 July.
“That is the background to your actions on 6 August when you caused a message to be sent on X, formerly Twitter. This was, as you know, a time of extremely heightened social tension. On any view, you were very reckless.”
Man jailed over video threatening to ‘blow away’ English Defence League
