Defiance, grace, strength, and unwavering cool.
These are just a few of the thousand words painted by the picture of a protester staring down an English Defence League leader in Birmingham over the weekend.
The photo of the young woman, named Saffiyah Khan, quickly went viral, showing the very best qualities of Brits in the face of the very worst. Khan smiled as she confronted the man, identified as far-right leader Ian Crossland, at an EDL march in her hometown.
Retweeted and shared several thousand times, the image prompted an outpouring of love and support for Khan from across the political spectrum.
Who looks like they have power here, the real Brummy on the left or the EDL who migrated for the day to our city and failed to assimilate pic.twitter.com/bu96ALQsOL
— Jess Phillips MP (@jessphillips) April 8, 2017
**PHOTO OF THE WEEK**
Enraged EDL racist stared down by amused, contemptuous Asian woman. #Birmingham
(via @AlexisTrust) pic.twitter.com/5kBdrrgvGf— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) April 8, 2017
So much love for this. Second photo of Saffiyah Khan staring down the EDL with a smile is even better. Solidarity, sister 👊👊👊👊✊✊✊✊ pic.twitter.com/jbz9ZmXWWQ
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) April 9, 2017
Khan has now spoken about the moment, saying that she was “not scared in the slightest” when she came into conflict with Crossland and the EDL. She told the Mirror:
“I was there with a few friends to look after people – because Muslims and people of colour are often abused. Nothing was really happening until a woman in a headscarf started shouting ‘racist’.
“About 20 to 25 EDL people ran over and surrounded her. She looked absolutely terrified. I still hung back and waited for the police to sort it out. I waited two or three minutes and but the police did nothing, so I decided to go and try and get her out of there.”
Khan said that she was then identified to the group as ‘anti-fascist’, which she says led to them turning on her.
“Ian Crossland was poking his finger in my face, but I just stood there. I didn’t do anything, I wasn’t interested, that wasn’t my intention. I couldn’t understand what was being said though to be honest, it was all very mumbled.
“But I wasn’t scared in the slightest. I stay pretty calm in these situations. I knew they were trying to provoke me, but I wasn’t going to be provoked. I was just holding out. Then I was just pulled out of there, I wasn’t arrested or charged.”
Although she’s now a known person thanks to the picture, Khan said that “on balance it was worth it”.
This is how EDL leader Ian Crossland reacted to the photograph of him in Birmingham yesterday. #sadlittleman pic.twitter.com/5eHz5qhibH
— HOPE not hate (@hopenothate) April 9, 2017
In response, Crossland said in a Facebook post that Khan was “lucky she got any teeth left”, claiming that she interrupted a minute’s silence for the victims of the attack in Stockholm.
The photo was taken by Joe Giddens, regional photographer for the Press Association
