Malaysia’s Red Shirts vow to confront anti-Najib protesters, warn of possible violence

Jamal Yunos and his “Red Shirts” group are widely dismissed as ruling-party thugs-for-hire who seek to suppress any moves against Najib over a huge graft scandal.

But Jamal’s confrontational tactics and racially charged rhetoric have stirred growing unease in a country where open political violence is rare.

Mobs of Red Shirts have assaulted reform advocates staging a weeks-long roadshow through Malaysia to highlight the corruption scandal.

“Anything can happen. I am not saying we will use violence. Anything can happen, including violence,” he said in an interview.

Malaysia’s often-acrimonious politics have been seized for more than a year by Najib’s alleged involvement in looting billions of dollars from state-owned fund 1MDB.