UK
Former jihadi calls on ‘all Muslims’ to descend on Villa Park – but to leave guns and machetes at home
Shahid Butt added that balaclavas were not necessary either ‘unless you’ve got a bit of a sensitive job’
November 5, 2025 17:21
Shahid Butt added that balaclavas were not necessary either ‘unless you’ve got a bit of a sensitive job’
November 5, 2025 17:21A former jihadi turned anti-radicalisation campaigner has called on “all Muslims” to descend on Villa Park tomorrow to protest the Aston Villa-Maccabi Tel Aviv match – and counselled them to leave their guns and machetes at home.
Labour peer Lord Austin expressed his astonishment that the Birmingham-based activist Shahid Butt deemed it necessary to offer the advice to bring “no knives, no guns, no machetes”, adding sarcastically that he felt “much more comfortable” about attending the match in light of the comments.
Butt was convicted on terror charges in Yemen in 1999 and served five years in prison. He was among a group of 10 men alleged to have links to Islamic extremists who kidnapped 16 Westerners the previous year, four of whom died in a shoot-out during a rescue attempt by Yemeni security forces.
The campaigner, who travelled Bosnia, Afghanistan and Yemen in the 1990s to fight in foreign conflicts, now openly speaks about his experience as an extremist and does work within the Muslim community to help prevent young people becoming radicalised,
Speaking on a Muslim-interest podcast, Beyond the Surface, this week Butt said: "Every single one of you Muslims from Birmingham, young and old, up and down the country, need to come on the 6th [of November] to Birmingham, to the Villa ground, and need to show your support because … the whole world’s media is going to be there, and those images are going to go all around the world.”
He continued: "I want the Palestinians to see the clips on their TikToks in Palestine, in Gaza, of Birmingham Muslims ... standing there in solidarity."
Butt, who now works on deradicalisation in the Muslim community, added: "I want to give a message for the young generation who are going to be there as well – some advice.
"First of all, do not bring any weapons to this protest – no knives, no guns, no machetes, nothing.”
He added that balaclavas were not necessary either, because “you don’t need to hide your face – unless you’ve got a bit of a sensitive job or whatever and you’re worried about the repercussions or whatever.”
Butt also called on protesters not to “give the big one to the coppers”, reminding them to “let them [the police] do their job.”
His comments have caused consternation, with former Labour MP and Independent peer Lord Austin summing up the sentiment in a post on X: "This nutcase tells people to come to Birmingham to protest on Thursday but asks them not to bring weapons.
"He says, 'no knives, no guns, no machetes'. He really says that. This is not normal.
"I feel much more comfortable about going to the match now.
"What is going on in our country?"
In a separate post, commenting on that a news story that reported a local school will be sending students home early tomorrow due to the heightened tensions, he wrote: "Local politicians and community leaders should be doing everything they can to improve education in areas like Aston and Lozells, not inflaming tensions and calling for boycotts, bans and protests that result in schools being closed early. What a disgrace."
More than 700 police officers are being deployed to Villa Park tomorrow, with police dogs, horses and drones also being utilised to keep Birmingham “safe”, West Midlands Police have said.
To get more news, click here to sign up for our free daily newsletter.