‘Punish A Muslim Day’: man charged over sick ‘game’

Parnham will appear in Westminster Magistrates’ Court
today

A 35-year-old man has been charged with 14 offences
including soliciting to murder for allegedly sending out flyers
encouraging people to “punish a Muslim”.

David Parnham, from Lincoln, allegedly made and
distributed hate-filled leaflets that urged people to harass and
attack their Muslim neighbours on “Punish A Muslim Day”, to be held
on 3 April this year.

The flyers included a list of “points” to be
awarded for various acts of Islamophobic aggression, ranging from
verbal abuse to physical violence, and were sent to Muslims in
London, Cardiff, Yorkshire and the Midlands in March. Copies were
also posted to four Labour MPs.

The disturbing letters, and the sick “game”
outlined in them, made headlines around the world, and sent
shock and fear through many UK Muslim communities.

“Some Muslim women said they would not go to work and
others suggested they would take off their headscarves so as to
look less like a Muslim,” Sky News reports.

The hashtags “#LoveAMuslimDay” and
“#WeStandTogether” sprang up on social media in response to the
hateful notes.

Parnham was arrested by counterterrorism police on
Tuesday and will appear in Westminster Magistrates’ Court today. A
residential property and office in Lincoln was searched as part of
the investigation, The Guardian reports.

In addition to the charges relating to the flyers, Parnham also
faces “five counts of sending a substance with the intention of
inducing in a person a belief that it is likely to contain a
noxious substance”, and one count of staging a bomb hoax, says
The Independent.