Hipster Cafe Attacked By ‘Class War’ Anarchists, But Is Cereal Killer Really Gentrification? [Video]


An anarchist riot calling itself Class War had a hipster cafe attacked simply because Cereal Killer Cafe is seen as being a symbol of gentrification, which is the buying and renovating of houses and stores in deteriorated urban neighborhoods like the East End in London. Unfortunately, while such community improvements do increase property values, gentrification is seen as part of class warfare since the process can displace low-income affordable housing and small businesses, a prospect that has Class War angry.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, Gary Keery, who founded the Cereal Killer Cafe with his twin brother, Alan, described the attack by the “F**k Parade” as terrifying.

“It was intense. It wasn’t expected. I couldn’t believe it was happening. I wasn’t there at the time, but I came down as soon as possible to help. They had pigs heads and torches. They wrote the word ‘scum.'”

The store generated controversy when it first opened because a simple bowl of cereal can cost as much as $6.68. Many questioned whether the low-income residents of East London could actually afford to buy breakfast at Cereal Killer Cafe.

https://www.facebook.com/classwarparty/posts/1646926802191607

While statements from the anarchist group did not directly cite the high breakfast prices, Class War claimed they had the hipster cafe attacked because it represented the neighborhood takeover by the rich.

“Our communities are being ripped apart – by Russian oligarchs, Saudi Sheiks, Israeli scumbag property developers, Texan oil-money twats and our own home-grown Eton toffs. Soon this City will be an unrecognizable, bland, yuppie infested wasteland with no room for normal (and not so normal) people like us,” Class War said on their Facebook page.

But even some of Class War’s followers questioned whether having the hipster cafe attacked was the best plan, with some calling for targets like banks or other businesses.

“Surely the Black Pret would have been a better target?” asked Facebook user Anthony West. “I agree the Cereal guys are prats. But indie coffee shops aren’t driving up rents. If fact usually they are the first to close when the likes of Costa move into Brixton.”

A writer for The Guardian also noted that the history of the area is rife with change, and that a business like Cereal Killer Cafe could easily be seen as diversification rather than gentrification.

“I have lived just off Brick Lane for 15 years. Every month it changes. It’s a fluidity of community that is historic. The Huguenots came from France and built beautiful houses, weaving their elaborate silks in light-filled lofts. The Jews came from Russia and eastern Europe, opening beigel shops, soup kitchens and other small businesses. The Bangladeshis came and did the same, purveying curry rather than chopped herring. Brilliantly, what is now a mosque has been a Huguenot church and a synagogue…. Almost everyone in the East End is an invader, barring the original cockneys.”

What do you think?

[Image via Twitter]

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