Pamela Geller Banned From Entering U.K. to Speak at English Defense League Rally
Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer co-founders of the group Stop Islamization of America have been banned from entering the United Kingdom to participate in an English Defense League rally.
The pair was scheduled to address the EDL's rally in Woolwich, the site where Drummer Lee Rigby was brutally murdered in May, to mark Armed Forces Day on 29 June.
A government spokesman said individuals whose presence "is not conducive to the public good" could be prevented from entering the country by the home secretary.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"We condemn all those whose behaviors and views run counter to our shared values and will not stand for extremism in any form," the spokesman added.
Geller and Spencer also co-founded the American Freedom Defense Initiative, which gained notoriety for a pro-Israel "Defeat Jihad" poster campaign in the New York subway that referred to Muslims who participate in jihad as savages.
"I welcome the home secretary's ban on Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer from entering the country. This is the right decision. The UK should never become a stage for inflammatory speakers who promote hate," Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said in a statement.
However, EDL leader Tommy Robinson criticized the decision and said both Geller and Spencer were coming to the U.K. to pay respects and participate in a tribute for a British soldier that was brutally murdered on a public street in broad daylight.
"It's embarrassing for this so-called land of democracy and freedom of speech," he said.
Geller gained notoriety after sponsoring the controversial advertisement, which read, "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad," was posted in several subway stations throughout New York City's borough of Manhattan.
Geller also previously headed the campaign to stop the building of the "Ground Zero Mosque" near the site of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City.
