A businessman who appeared on-stage alongside masked 'Muslim brothers' has called for peace between warring factions while also encouraging protesters to buy masks to protect themselves.
The prolific social media poster known variously as 'Big Fish' and 'Trendz' played a prominent part in an anti-UKIP demonstration in Tower Hamlets, east London.
He was filmed on stage alongside a megaphone-wielding speaker as people were rallied to 'stand firm'.
Self-styled 'Big Fish' had previewed last Saturday afternoon's event with an Instagram video in which Tower Hamlets' mayor Lutfur Rahman gave his support for the counter-demonstration.
The UK Independence Party was banned from staging a demo in Whitechapel in the Tower Hamlets borough which has the UK's biggest proportion of Muslim residents.
Instead, large groups of masked Muslim youths took to the streets on Saturday - vowing to be 'ready to defend their community'.
Many young men dressed in black, with hoods up and their faces covered, could be seen as Bangladesh and Palestine flags were waved.
Campaigners against anti-Semitism have accused the Metropolitan Police of helping let 'extremist mobs' take to the streets.
Saturday's Tower Hamlets demonstration came after police banned a planned UKIP protest to 'reclaim' the area.
Many young men dressed in black, with hoods up and their faces covered, roamed the streets waving Bangladesh and Palestine flags where UKIP intended to march.
The protester urging crowds to 'stand firm' said of the mooted UKIP demonstrators: 'They came specifically targeting Islam.
'They said, "We are coming on a crusade" - they said, "We need to take back our streets".
'We stand firm to let them know if you come, we will stand firm and will be ready to defend our elders, to defend our women, to defend our community.
'We have never once said we were going on crusades or going into your areas to cause you problems.
'You are coming into our homes and you want to cause us problems. What is wrong with us standing up? Today is a day we unite.'
Balaclava-clad men reportedly chanted: 'We will honour all our martyrs. Allahu akbar. Zionist scum off our streets.'
And amid the scenes, community leader 'Big Fish' sold £5 balaclavas to his 'Muslim brothers' as he urged others to ensure they were prepared and ready.
Suggesting protesters should cover their faces to avoid being identified by police, the trader declared: 'No face, no case.'
He added: 'What's going on my people? In all our shops this Saturday inshallah if you guys need it, £5 each.
'My brothers, please start buying them now as I don't want you to come the day before and found out we have run out.
'I want to be able to facilitate this for the ends, inshallah. I've got this one as I don't like the other ones, it makes Muslims look like criminals - you know with the eye, none of that.
'Please, my brothers, come and start buying it now so I can get more stock in to facilitate everyone for the day - get them on.'
He has 26,000 followers on Instagram, is listed online as having a store in Bethnal Green and has been sharing regular updates before and after Saturday's event.
One from last week saw him embracing Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman who expressed his support for last Saturday's Whitechapel demonstration.
The frequent online poster 'Big Fish' wrote: 'The police might have said it's been cancelled or whatever, but like the mayor said we still want you there.'
Mr Rahman is a divisive figure who was struck off as a solicitor and once banned from standing in election for five years after a specialist court found him guilty of vote-rigging and religious intimidation.
He was re-elected as the independent mayor of Tower Hamlets in May 2022.
The mayor said in the video that the 'far right' was coming to Tower Hamlets, as he urged: 'Come out - let's show our solidarity, our unity and our diversity.
'We need to be out, we need to be together - you need to celebrate and demonstrate our diversity.'
'Big Fish' captioned that video with the words 'The mayor v Bigfish' and has followed up with an array of clips, not only of Saturday's event but also promoting himself.
Online links suggest he is involved with a store called 100 Trendz in Bethnal Green, east London, in the borough of Tower Hamlets - just over the border from Hackney.
The Daily Mail has approached 'Big Fish' for comment.
A Tower Hamlets council spokesperson said: 'We welcomed the Metropolitan Police’s decision to move the proposed march from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It would have caused significant disruption to our local community.
'We also thank the police for the management of the counter protest in Whitechapel.
'Tower Hamlets is a leading example of a world city where people from all backgrounds live in harmony.
'Tower Hamlets is both the most densely populated and fastest growing place in the UK, and we have some of the highest rates of community cohesion. This year an independent residents survey found that 91 per cent of people say they get on well with one another.
'We will continue to champion community cohesion and diversity in a borough that is proud of both its history and heritage.'
The mayor had previously posted how he would 'encourage those joining today not to mask up', adding that this would be a 'peaceful demonstration, displaying our unity against racism, violence and division'.
Video of the demonstration including 'Big Fish' on stage was posted in an east London Facebook group in which residents voiced concerns about the demo.
One local wrote: 'I want to raise awareness about a troubling video that has surfaced. It features a man wearing a balaclava and saying, 'No face, no case'.
'He appears to be selling these balaclavas and the tone of the video is concerning, as it seems to encourage intimidation and inciting violence on our streets.'
They added: 'While I do not support UKIP or their views, I'm left wondering why there appears to be talk of balaclavas and violence this weekend if the event has been cancelled.
'Why is this individual promoting behaviour that could incite fear or violence in our community?'
Another said: 'The public has a right to know why masked men will be on the streets. As I would not feel comfortable allowing a lady to walk among mobs of masked men.'
On Saturday, 'Big Fish' shared several posts of himself at the Tower Hamlets demonstration - in one video seen standing on stage holding a large Bangladeshi flag as a masked protester next to him delivers a speech to the crowd.
In another, he is seen with a group of masked protesters saying: 'I'm here with all the brothers behind me.
'Here not for violence or hate, we are here we to stand ground on our own area which is Tower Hamlets.'
His Instagram videos have titles including 'Tower Hamlets assemble' and 'Message to to the far-right extremists from the Muslims of Tower Hamlets'.
In one, captioned as coming from 'Banglatown', he says: 'I just want to say one thing to the people of UKIP - stop this hostility.
'We love this country as much as you love it. I was born here. I was brought up here.
'So, my people, let's get along, inshallah, and I just want to say - this is Tower Hamlets. We won't be taking this.'
The Metropolitan Police has come under scrutiny over how the weekend's demonstrations and counter-demonstrations were handled.
Concerns have been raised over the marches by masked men, with Scotland Yard accused of giving them too much leeway - though police have hit back at allegations.
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said of the Tower Hamelets demo: 'It speaks volumes about the state of policing in London that a protest was banned from entering Tower Hamlets on the grounds of "serious disorder", yet groups of masked men were permitted to march through the same streets unimpeded.
'For two years, the Met Police have allowed extremist demonstrations across London and time and again the force has insisted that its powers are limited or that these marches were "largely peaceful" and done nothing to ban them, despite their effect on local Jews and so many ordinary Londoners.
'But when it comes to others seeking to protest, rightly or wrongly swift and decisive bans are imposed without hesitation.
'Worse still, those spaces are then captured by Islamists and other extremists, whom the Met seems to go to pains to protect no matter their conduct.
'Why is the Met acting as bodyguards for this extremist mob? Current policing in London is flying in the face of the most fundamental values of justice and fairness and is jeopardising British Jews and the safety of all Londoners, and still nobody in the Met is being held to account.'
A Met Police spokesperson said in response: 'We didn’t ban the UKIP protest. We imposed conditions to prevent it taking place in Tower Hamlets to prevent serious disruption and serious disorder.
'We have used the same and similar powers to prevent protests taking place in the vicinity of synagogues and in areas with significant Jewish populations on numerous occasions over the past two years.
'We have done so in large part as a result of engagement with Jewish Londoners and in response to their concerns.
'Just this month, on the anniversary of October 7th, we imposed a substantial exclusion zone in the Westminster area to ensure a memorial event taking place, organised by the Campaign Against Antisemitism, could go ahead without disruption from opposing groups.'
They added that there was one arrest for possession of an offensive weapon on Saturday in Tower Hamlets, with the suspect having been bailed, while saying there were 'no other offences/incidents of note'.
While the counter-protest took place in Tower Hamlets, UKIP's planned demo was moved to central London.
The Metropolitan Police last week imposed Public Order Act conditions on UKIP demonstrators, preventing them from holding the protest anywhere in the borough of Tower Hamlets.
Previously, the force banned the demonstration from its planned site in Whitechapel, with officers saying there was 'realistic prospect of serious disorder'.
The march was part of a series of events taking place across the UK which were promoted as a 'mass deportations tour', with organisers calling on attendees to 'reclaim Whitechapel from the Islamists', UKIP's X profile said.
