According to the data, the Mayor’s Violence Reduction Unit Community Seed Fund made two payments to the 4Front Project in 2018/19 and 2019/20. The group was created in 2012 in order to tackle youth violence but became publicised after they organised a protest outside a North-West London police station following the arrest of a young man last year. The 14-year-old boy was held on suspicion of possessing cannabis in Colindale, which led to the arrest of three people following a protest outside the station.
Approximately 40 people assembled outside the police station where they obstructed a police van.
Prior to this incident, the project was given £50,000 in 2019/20 and a further £46,042 the year before, an FOI from Guido Fawkes discovered.
Commenting on the payment of money to the group, former Brexit Party MEP and chairman of Unlocked media Ben Habib told Express.co.uk the mayor “must go”.
He said: “It is not just that Sadiq Khan is not doing his job, he actually holds London in contempt.
“He vocally supported BLM when they broke lockdown with their protest last summer; a protest in which they defaced our national heroes.
“If that was not bad enough they also defaced the Cenotaph, a memorial to those that sacrificed their lives for this country.
“Now we discover he has been using public money, £100,000 no less, to support 4Front Project, an entity which blockaded a police station last year.
“This revelation comes hard on the heels of him launching a committee comprising a number of his ilk looking to bring down the statues of our great and good and change street names.
JUST IN: Brexit LIVE: Irish MP unveils power grab plot for UK business
The director of 4Front Temi Mwale claimed the project had initially attempted to de-escalate tensions during the protest last year.
The project director also claimed the protest was against the police’s stop and search powers.
She said at the time: “We tried to de-escalate the situation, I actually think it was going well.
“But at some point, someone decided it would be appropriate to send four, five huge vans full of hundreds of you, to start dragging community workers across the floor.”
The latest news comes as Mr Khan unveiled London’s Landmark commission on diversity in the public where statues, monuments and street names will be reviewed.
A panel of 15 people has been brought in to improve the capital’s diversity, the Mayor announced last week.
Despite criticism, the commission claimed it has not been created to preside over the removal of statues.
Panellist and 27-year-old art historian Aindrea Emelife said: “It’s not just about taking down statues, it’s about creating new commissions that will inspire generations.
“And that is what I’m most excited about.”
The group also includes actor Riz Ahmed and social activist Toyin Agbetu who interrupted a service for the Queen in 2017.
During the service, to mark the 200th anniversary of abolishing the slave trade, Mr Agbetu called on the Queen to apologise.
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London told Express.co.uk: “Sadiq is doing everything in his power to tackle violent crime in our city.
“He has been clear that means being tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime, which is why it’s vital that community groups are properly funded – they are in the best position to intervene at a critical moment in a young person’s life and understand the importance of listening to and working with those affected by violence.
“Funding from the Mayor’s Violence Reduction Unit is helping respected grassroots projects across the capital deliver long-term solutions that tackle the underlying causes of violent crime and give young people the positive spaces, role models and opportunities they deserve.”
