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A presenter on the Murdoch-owned Talk station is set to appear in court this Thursday, after being charged with assault following an incident at a fundraiser for Donald Trump in Windsor last September.
André Walker faces a charge of assault by beating, and the trial is scheduled to take place on 30 July at Reading Magistrates’ Court.
It follows Fossil Free London activists interrupting the Windsor Guildhall event with a banner, chanting against the US President’s policies on the climate crisis. Byline Times exclusively reported on the incident, which was not covered elsewhere.
NHS doctor and activist Kush Naker alleged that Walker dragged him from the front to a side room, closed the door, and got on his knees on top of him, reaching for his neck.
He further alleged that Walker tried to swing several punches at him whilst he was on the ground, which he claims he prevented by grabbing Walker’s wrists. Naker claimed the Talk host then moved his knee towards Naker’s groin, in what Naker took to be an attempt to knee him in the genitals. Naker says he responded by trapping Walker’s leg between his own. At the time, Walker and his spokesman denied the claims as “nonsense”.
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Still Presenting on Talk
Thames Valley Police confirmed at the time they had received a report of assault with injury at around 8.30pm on 16 September at Windsor Guildhall, at the Republicans Overseas gala dinner during Trump’s state visit.
Another Fossil Free London activist alleged she was slapped repeatedly by a female attendee, in an incident caught on video, while being removed by security, though no charges appear to have been brought.
Walker has continued hosting weekly shows on Talk despite his assault charge, which he is understood to deny. The right-winger has presented at least eight shows for the Murdoch-owned online and radio station in July alone, along with co-host Ash Gould.
Assault by beating (common assault, contrary to s.39 Criminal Justice Act 1988) is a summary-only offence, meaning it can only be tried in the Magistrates’ Court, unless it is ‘sent up’ to a Crown Court alongside a more serious charge.
Walker has attempted to portray the case as politically motivated. In recent YouTube videos he has claimed Thames Valley Police and supposed “terrorists” have “aligned” to bring him down.
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He has also sought to present the Fossil Free London demonstration as a “terrorist attack” he personally foiled during Donald Trump’s state visit. He has been soliciting donations for a “phenomenal legal team” he claims was recommended via Elon Musk’s and Trump’s lawyers.
When Byline Times reported on the incident last year, Walker said: “There are no criminal allegations. They haven’t made any. The only people they’ve phoned are you. Always remember something – if you start printing a load of allegations against me in the absence of any evidence, you’ll just look like a dickhead. And also, how would you feel if it happened to you?”
The ‘Patriot Fund’
Walker claims he has sold his car and is behind on rent, while promoting a “Patriot Club” or “Patriot Fund” for his costs, including a claim he paid three grooming-gang victims £150 each after they gave evidence in “the Rupert Lowe thing” (the far-right Restore Britain leader’s own report into grooming).
After a failed attempt to bring a private prosecution for aggravated trespass (which he says the Crown Prosecution Service blocked at Reading Magistrates’ Court), Walker says he is serving a “notice before action” and heading for judicial review at the High Court, framed as suing the Government.
He has also set out a wider ambition to privately prosecute political opponents (“lefties…we’ll start putting them in court” he says in one video).
In a monologue on his YouTube channel, he confirmed the so-called Patriot Fund is “very definitely not a charity”, and is a discretionary pot he alone directs, adding that PayPal shut him down over suspicions he was falsely presenting it as a charity.
News UK was contacted for comment.
Got a story? Get in touch in confidence on josiah@bylinetimes.com
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