By Dan Vevers,Jonathan Blackburn
Copyright glasgowlive
The co-founder of a group raising hundreds of Scotland flags across Glasgow is a Nazi sympathiser who called for refugees to be gassed.
Racist Kieran Logan, 27, co-runs the Tartan Team campaign, which is part of the UK-wide Raise the Colours phenomenon. The group claims to represent “young dads” with genuine fears over illegal immigration, as they tie Scottish flags to lampposts across the north of the city.
However, it has been revealed that Logan, who has an online crowdfunder, mocked the deaths of migrants on a capsized boat as “f****n amazing” and branded Muslim men “perverts” on social media earlier this month.
On his now deleted X account, Logan wrote “gas them all”, referring to asylum seekers, and shared a video of a podcast praising Hitler. He also hailed a post by far-right activist Tommy Robinson praising the “beautiful scenes” of Saltires being raised, the Sunday Mail reports.
Roz Foyer, of the STUC, said: “It’s risible those raising Saltires still cling to the false narrative they’re doing it for civic pride and community protection.
“This is utterly false. In addition to despicably attacking local government workers tasked with removing these items, graffiti calling for the death of migrants must seriously call into question the true intent of those cosplaying as community activists.
“People are legitimately aggrieved, our communities are underinvested. That’s not the fault of migrants, it’s the fault of ministers. We would appeal to them to direct their ire towards politicians, not those who have fled famine, war and torture.”
Father Jim Lawlor, from the Immaculate Conception parish on Maryhill Road, has condemned anti-migrant political discourse for stoking tensions. He described the flag campaign as “masquerading as patriotism, but it’s on the back of something far more sinister”.
In a Facebook clip he declared: “The people of Maryhill are welcoming folk on behalf of the people I serve and I love, we’ll have none of this.”
The appearance of Saltires across the north of the city has coincided with vile graffiti. At a children’s playground in Summerston, “Sink the boats” was daubed on a wall beside a flag.
The Tartan Team refutes any connection to the graffiti. Local authority staff removing flags have encountered hostile intimidation.
When members of the public attempted to take down flags in Maryhill, the Tartan Team Facebook page shared photographs with the caption: “Can anyone name these scum”.
Saltires have emerged throughout Scotland. Aberdeenshire Council was compelled to suspend removal operations following threats.
Raise the Colours originated in England with the hoisting of Union Jacks and St George’s flags in what supporters claimed was a display of community pride and patriotism.
However, anti-racism activists argue the movement is plainly being stirred up by far-right provocateurs. In X posts first reported by the Glasgow Bell, Logan responded to a video allegedly showing asylum seekers fighting in Spain by writing: “Gas them all.”
He used this phrase multiple times. He also reposted a video claiming to expose the location of a purported asylum hotel in Glasgow.
On Instagram, he commented on a story about 26 migrants dying off Italy: “Amazing that – stay in your own country” with a series of laughing emojis. He also posted an AI image of a white girl surrounded by men depicted as Muslims saying: “Perverts need to go, everyone a them.”
Last month, he shared a video on X of a podcast with US antisemitic conspiracy theorist Ken O’Keefe.
In the clip, O’Keefe says “Nazi” was a “derogatory term created by the Jews”. He added: “The answer for America today lies in the one place everybody mind-controlled will never look – Germany and a man named Adolf.”
The revelations emerge despite Tartan team assertions their movement is not anti-immigration. Raise the Colours was connected to demonstrations at asylum hotels in England. The Tartan Team have stated they don’t endorse the protests.
SNP MSP for Maryhill and Springburn Bob Doris, who recently highlighted the matter of Saltires and anti-migrant graffiti at FMQs with John Swinney, said: “There is nothing racist in flying the Saltire. The important thing is that we show kindness, dignity and respect. These posts fall far short of that ambition.”
Patrick Harvie, Glasgow MSP of the Greens, expressed his concern, saying: “These views are grotesque and have no place in our politics or our city. These extremists are hijacking flags in a bid to spread division and hatred.
“We face a very dangerous moment, and the work the Sunday Mail is doing exposing the prejudice and bigotry that threatens our society is really important.”
Despite reaching out to the Tartan Team online for a comment and visiting a family address for Logan, we received no response.
Glasgow City Council has issued a warning about its struggle to meet the increasing costs of providing emergency homeless accommodation, partly due to the city accepting more refugees than any other Scottish local authority.
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