John Toner
Today at 18:45
Loyalist activist Joel Keys has defended his mother’s involvement with controversial street patrols in east Belfast.
Leesa White (41), a prominent figure in the anti-immigration movement, has taken part in the so-called ‘night walks’ in the city and Ballymena in recent months.
The PSNI is investigating two race-hate crimes in east Belfast linked to “self-appointed” patrols.
Politicians from across all the spectrum have also condemned vigilantism. There is no suggestion that Ms White has committed any unlawful acts.
But Mr Keys claimed the group was helping the homeless.
“I don’t believe they’re vigilantes due to the fact they don’t hide their identities and cooperate with law enforcement,” he said.
“In terms of specific activities, I sometimes agree with them and sometimes don’t. I don’t keep up with their videos or livestreams.
“I have no involvement with the group, other than the fact that one of them is my mum.
“I don’t participate in their patrols or any of that.
“My mother is largely involved in that group, and has been from the start.
“They have a pre-set patrol route which passes a number of local homeless people.
“Their nightly routine includes bringing food and other items to these people.
“Sometimes they run into suspicious activity, which they investigate and involve the PSNI as needed.
“They aren’t a group of ravenous vigilantes.”
Mr Keys hit the headlines as a 19-year-old in 2021 when, as a member of the Loyalist Communities Council, he told the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee that violence shouldn’t be ruled “on or off the table”.
He has since become a prominent social media commentator on current affairs.
During a rally at Stormont in July, his mother railed against the “large number of undocumented males landing on our shores”.
She said: “This is light versus dark. We aren’t far right. We’ve just been right so far.”
Discussing the Ballymena riots earlier this year, she denied the protesters were racist.
Ms White said: “We stood in solidarity in our thousands. We, the people, agreed that societal change is absolutely necessary to prevent abusers festering in the community.
“A march was organised, and authorities snubbed out the legitimate concerns of the community.
“They were stopped dead, and out of the thousands of people on the streets, a very small number went on to commit acts of violence, which I do not condone.
Stephen Baker (ponytail), Mark Sinclair (cap) and Neil Pinkerton (holding phone) at the same rally.
“However these people were emotional about the recent sexual assaults of children and had genuine concerns. These people are not racists, they are the forgotten, unheard members of society.”
She went on to explain why she was taking part in street patrols.
“Police can’t deal with crime-rates we already see, and I don’t understand how hundreds of unvetted, undocumented males is going to make the situation any better,” Ms White said.
“Where are the politicians, who should be speaking the truths of their constituents?
“They’re in their big houses, with their big wages, calling us ordinary concerned parents far-right thugs.
“You only need to look to the UK and down south, to Ireland, to see what’s going on.
“So, a number of us concerned parents have taken to the streets day and night to patrol our streets and parks.
“In doing so, we have come across a number of homeless people… who we are giving help and support where we can.”
The grandmother was filmed speaking at the rally alongside high-profile conspiracy theorist and anti-immigration agitator Stephen Baker, the organiser of The Great Province-Wide Protest NI group.
She has also been spotted taking part in street patrols alongside Neil Pinkerton, who is currently on remand for an alleged race-hate attack on a delivery driver.
On top of that, she has been interviewed on social media by convicted armed robber turned anti-migrant influencer Mark Sinclair, also known online as ‘Freedomdad’.
During her interview with Sinclair last month, she complained about being “harassed” by the police for her role in the patrols and demonstrations.
She said: “Ordinary people like myself have been joining these walking groups, and I will continue to go on as many as I can to show my support.
“These people are looking out for suspicious behaviours, not people’s skin colour
“That’s the only comment I’m going to make on that.”
by Browns_right_foot
7 comments
Yer mas a vigilante
I remember Joel Keys being posted around in like 2021/2022 and he did seem like a reasonable unionist but it’s sad and shocking to see him defend racist behaviour from others. He had a post on this reddit before
[Post he made](https://www.reddit.com/r/northernireland/comments/129tz73/hello/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Does she wear a eye mask while out and about being a vigilante Jon boy
https://preview.redd.it/bz6iugcpkrqf1.png?width=397&format=png&auto=webp&s=d546857c3c6e956069b6ca0562cbbe921ab24b33
Mother’s face is filtered to within a inch of its life.
>“I don’t believe they’re vigilantes due to the fact they don’t hide their identities and cooperate with law enforcement,” he said.
They are vigilantes, they have no legal authority to be doing what they’re doing in the videos they’ve made such as
>Requesting documentation from random people on the street
>They act as if the PSNI are insufficient
>They’ve took matters into their own hands by verbally abusing and attacking people
>Half of these people probably do not collab with the PSNI at all
Awk sure aye, what walking group hasn’t ended up in front of a judge for hate crimes /s
Wearing a Q Anon hat and all. I hope one day we have Facebook etc in some kind of Nuremberg court to answer for the social harm of cross-pollinating so many flavours of idiot bigots
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