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ByJillLawless TheAssociatedPress LONDON One of London's fastest-changing neighbor- hoods is echoing with the snap, crackle and pop of conflict. An East End cafe that serves 120 varieties of breakfast cereal — along with 30 kinds of milk — has become a surprising flash- point for protest in a city increasingly polarized be- tween rich and poor. The Cereal Killer Cafe has drawn both derision and big crowds since it opened nine months ago, offering a cornucopia of flakes, pops and puffs from about 3 pounds ($4.50) a bowl. On the weekend, it attracted the ire of anti- gentrification protesters, who surrounded the busi- ness with flaming torches and scrawled "scum" on its windows as customers shel- tered in the basement. "It is a bit weird," said Gary Keery, who runs the cafe with his brother, Alan. "I don't see us as hateful people — but a lot of peo- ple seem to." Fashionably bearded 33-year-old twins from Bel- fast, Northern Ireland, the Keery brothers are among the latest wave of migrants to this diverse part of east London. Over the decades European Jews, Bangla- deshi Muslims and hip- sters from around the world have brought bagel shops and curry restau- rants, espresso bars and independent fashion bou- tiques to Brick Lane and nearby Shoreditch. It's that diversity that made the Keery brothers choose the area for their breakfast business. "There's a lot of creative things happening," said Gary Keery. "A cat cafe just opened up around the cor- ner. We just knew that if it was going to work, it would work in Brick Lane." That hunch was correct, judging by the crowds of students, tourists and fam- ilies lining up for a bowl of milk-soaked comfort food in the quirky cafe, where shelves are lined with brightly colored ce- real boxes and a portrait of Hannibal Lecter made from Cheerios hangs on one wall. "It takes people back to their childhood, when ce- real was fun," Gary Keery said. But not everyone is a fan. On Saturday, anti-pov- erty protesters targeted the cafe as a symbol of all that's wrong with London's de- velopment. Footage filmed from inside showed a group, some in pig masks and car- rying torches, shouting out- side as staff told customers to go downstairs. Police say one officer was injured by a flying bottle during the pro- test, organized by mil- itant anarchist group Class War. Tony Travers, an ex- pert on Britain's capital city at the London School of Economics, says the ce- real storm is "a war by proxy about something much, much bigger": the squeeze on space in a booming city whose population, already 8.6 million, is growing by 120,000 people a year. Developers are building just 20,000 to 25,000 new homes each year, so rents and property prices climb ever higher. In the East End, a long- established working-class population has been joined — and sometimes displaced — by thousands of affluent young professionals in ren- ovated buildings and shiny new developments. The result is an area where organic food shops sit alongside everything- for-a-pound stores. One- bedroom apartments sell for 500,000 pounds ($750,000) and up, but almost half of children in the local borough, Tower Hamlets, live in poverty. Travers said the cereal cafe is "an innocent casu- alty of a wider struggle for territory in the city." Class War says it is de- lighted with the publicity it has received and plans more protests outside inde- pendent businesses. "The fight against gen- trification has basically been lost and it's speed- ing up all the time," Class War founder Ian Bone told The Guardian newspaper. "So our philosophy is to go back to areas which have al- ready been gentrified and start taking the fight back to them." The Keery brothers are undaunted. They recently opened a second branch in Lon- don's tourist-heavy Cam- den Town, and have a ce- real cookbook coming out next month. And the attack has brought new customers to the cafe. "There are worse things in the world than people eating cereal," said Tess Hoey, from Sussex in southern England, who came to show her sup- port. She said those concerned about London's property crisis should "talk about Russian oligarchs — not boys from Belfast." Follow Jill Lawless on Twitter at http://Twitter. com/JillLawless. BREAKFAST BUSINESS In London, trendy cereal cafe targeted by protesters ASSOCIATEDPRESSPHOTOS A member of staff of the Cereal Killer Cafe helps point out to a customer the range of cereals available from US favorites to European gluten-free organics at the cafe in Brick Lane, London. A customer pours organic full cream milk onto her cereal selection that includes chopped strawberries at the Cereal Killer Cafe in Brick Lane, London. Alan Keery, one of the twin brothers who developed and own the Cereal Killer Cafe in Brick Lane, London, talks to the Associated Press at the cafe, as customer Melanie Wolstenholme eats a late a ernoon bowl of cereal. A member of staff of the Cereal Killer Cafe helps point out to a customer the range of cereals available from US favorites to European gluten-free organics at the cafe in Brick Lane, London. 7875 HWY 99E LOS MOLINOS, CA 384-1265 VisitoursecondlocationinChico•540MainSt.•Open24hours ORDERS TO GO ServedAllDay No substitutions ChickenFried Steak 2 Eggs HashBrownsor Home Fries, Toast $ 7 99 OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK 7am to 2pm Peking Chinese Restaurant DineIn,CarryOut&Lounge 860MainStreet 530-527-0523 10%Off yourticketwiththisad. Limit 1 coupon per ticket/table. No other discounts apply. Alcohol, taxes or gratuity are not included. Offer expires 10/31/15 Published by The Daily News with great appreciation for the support of local businesses! 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