Protesters gather in Epping as bottles and flares are thrown
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Protesters gather in Epping as bottles and flares are thrown
Bottles and smoke flares thrown in hotel protest in Epping, Essex. More than 1,000 people gathered at the site of the Bell Hotel. Essex Police said one person had been arrested and was being taken into custody. The disorder followed the arrest and charge of an asylum seeker last week on suspicion of alleged sexual assaults in the town. The hotel is believed to be housing asylum seekers from around the world. A section 60AA order requiring the removal of face coverings will remain in place until Monday. The order is in place around Epping including its tube station. The right to peaceful protest is protected by law but must be done respectfully.
4 hours ago Share Save Aimee Dexter BBC News, Essex Greg Mckenzie BBC News, Essex Reporting from Epping Share Save
PA Media There have been a number of demonstrations outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, believed to be housing asylum seekers
Bottles and smoke flares have been thrown towards police vehicles during a protest at a hotel used to house asylum seekers. More than 1,000 people have gathered at the site of the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, after a protest was organised for 18:00 BST. Essex Police said one person had been arrested and was being taken into custody. The disorder followed the arrest and charge of an asylum seeker last week on suspicion of alleged sexual assaults in the town. Unrest at the site on Thursday led to three arrests, with plans for the latest protest prompting the force to announce a section 60AA order requiring the removal of face coverings would remain in place until Monday.
Demonstrators chanted “send them home” and “save our kids”, as projectiles were thrown towards police vans blocking the entrance to the hotel. Many had travelled from across the UK, with one woman from Scotland telling the BBC she felt compelled to “support local people and get the asylum seekers out”. Police also surrounded a counter-protester, an elderly woman, before escorting her out of the area as masked protesters followed her and shouted abuse.
PA Media Essex Police was aware of a planned protest at the site from 18:00 BST on Sunday and had an order in place which allowed for the removal of face coverings
Greg McKenzie/BBC Protesters carrying banners at the demonstration in Epping on Sunday evening
The Section 60AA order comes after police said the protest on Thursday had involved people wearing face coverings and “committing serious acts of disorder”. Eight police officers were injured. One man was earlier charged with violent disorder and criminal damage following previous clashes outside the hotel. A spokesperson for the force added: “We will deal robustly and quickly with anyone intent on coming into Epping to commit selfish criminal behaviour. “The right to peaceful protest is protected by law and allows everyone freedom of expression, but this must be done respectfully and if there is a risk to public order we will act appropriately.” The order is in place around Epping including its tube station.
PA Media There is a heavy police presence in the area
Thursday’s demonstration was one of a series of protests outside the hotel since 38-year-old asylum seeker Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu was charged with sexual assault – after an incident where he is alleged to have attempted to kiss a 14-year-old girl. He denied the charge when he appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
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Bottles and flares thrown during another protest outside Essex hotel
Demonstrators gathered outside the Bell Hotel in Epping on Sunday evening. Some set off flares in blue and red, while others held signs. Bottles and smoke flares were later thrown towards police vans blocking the entrance to the hotel on the High Road. It comes after a man was charged with violent disorder and criminal damage on Sunday afternoon following previous clashes outside the hotel. Keith Silk, 33, of Torrington Drive, Loughton, was arrested on Saturday. He was remanded into custody and will appear at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
A person has been arrested after dozens of protesters gathered for the second time outside an Essex hotel believed to house asylum seekers.
More than 100 demonstrators assembled outside the Bell Hotel in Epping on Sunday evening, with some chanting “save our kids”.
Some set off flares in blue and red, while others held signs which read “deport foreign criminals”, “we go home when they go back” and “defend our girls”.
Bottles and smoke flares were later thrown towards police vans blocking the entrance to the hotel on the High Road.
open image in gallery Protesters pictured near the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, on Sunday evening ( Yui Mok/PA Wire )
The force said one person had been arrested and was being taken into custody on Sunday evening.
Essex Police announced before the protest that it would order demonstrators to remove face coverings when requested under section 60AA of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.
Anyone who refuses to remove a face mask when asked to do so is likely to be arrested and could be imprisoned if convicted, the force said.
“The right to peaceful protest is protected by law and allows everyone freedom of expression, but this must be done respectfully and if there is a risk to public order, we will act appropriately,” officers said.
It comes after a man was charged with violent disorder and criminal damage on Sunday afternoon following previous clashes outside the hotel.
open image in gallery Bottles and smoke flares were later thrown towards police vans blocking the entrance to the hotel ( Yui Mok/PA Wire )
Eight police officers were injured after what started as a peaceful protest on Thursday evening. Keith Silk, 33, of Torrington Drive, Loughton, was arrested on Saturday, Essex Police said.
The force said on Sunday that the CPS had authorised police to charge Silk with one count of violent disorder and one count of criminal damage.
He was remanded into custody and will appear at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
Thursday’s demonstration was one of a series of protests outside the hotel since 38-year-old asylum seeker Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu was charged with sexual assault after an incident where he is alleged to have attempted to kiss a 14-year-old girl.
He denied the charge when he appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
Bottles and smoke flares thrown in hotel protest
More than 1,000 people have gathered at the site of the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex. One person has been arrested and is being taken into custody. Demonstrators chanted “send them home” and “save our kids” at the protest. Disorder followed the arrest and charge of an asylum seeker last week on suspicion of alleged sexual assaults in the town. A section 60AA order requiring the removal of face coverings will remain in place until Monday, Essex Police said. The order is in place around Epping including its tube station and there is a heavy police presence.
Bottles and smoke flares have been thrown towards police vehicles during a protest at a hotel used to house asylum seekers.
More than 1,000 people have gathered at the site of the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, after a protest was organised for 18:00 BST.
Essex Police said one person had been arrested and was being taken into custody. The disorder followed the arrest and charge of an asylum seeker last week on suspicion of alleged sexual assaults in the town.
Unrest at the site on Thursday led to three arrests, with plans for the latest protest prompting the force to announce a section 60AA order requiring the removal of face coverings would remain in place until Monday.
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Demonstrators chanted “send them home” and “save our kids”, as projectiles were thrown towards police vans blocking the entrance to the hotel.
Many had travelled from across the UK, with one woman from Scotland telling the BBC she felt compelled to “support local people and get the asylum seekers out”.
Police also surrounded a counter-protester, an elderly woman, before escorting her out of the area as masked protesters followed her and shouted abuse.
Essex Police was aware of a planned protest at the site from 18:00 BST on Sunday and had an order in place which allowed for the removal of face coverings [PA Media]
Protesters carrying banners at the demonstration in Epping on Sunday evening [Greg McKenzie/BBC]
The Section 60AA order comes after police said the protest on Thursday had involved people wearing face coverings and “committing serious acts of disorder”. Eight police officers were injured.
One man was earlier charged with violent disorder and criminal damage following previous clashes outside the hotel.
A spokesperson for the force added: “We will deal robustly and quickly with anyone intent on coming into Epping to commit selfish criminal behaviour.
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“The right to peaceful protest is protected by law and allows everyone freedom of expression, but this must be done respectfully and if there is a risk to public order we will act appropriately.”
The order is in place around Epping including its tube station.
There is a heavy police presence in the area [PA Media]
Thursday’s demonstration was one of a series of protests outside the hotel since 38-year-old asylum seeker Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu was charged with sexual assault – after an incident where he is alleged to have attempted to kiss a 14-year-old girl.
He denied the charge when he appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
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Epping protests: Demonstrations continue as man due in court following violence
Protestors gathered outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex on Sunday night. More than 100 demonstrators assembled with some chanting ‘save our kids’ Keith Silk, 33, is due to appear at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Monday charged with violent disorder and criminal damage after being arrested on Saturday. Local Conservative MPs have called for the Home Office to stop housing asylum seekers at the hotel. The protests come amid a wider debate over the use of hotels to house asylum seekers, with growing tensions in some towns and cities. The Prime Minister reportedly said it was important that the latest protests were important in the wake of Keir Starmer’s comments on the issue last week. But a spokesman for the Prime Minister said that it was more important for the government to “end asylum hotels’ during the general election last year. He added that the government was ‘committed to ending asylum hotels in the UK’ and that this was a ‘legitimate’ issue.
Protestors continued to gather outside a hotel in Essex believed to be housing asylum seekers on Sunday as a man is due to appear in court on Monday after clashes outside the venue.
On Sunday more than 100 demonstrators assembled outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, with some chanting “save our kids” and holding signs saying “deport foreign criminals”, “we go home when they go back” and “defend our girls”.
Bottles and smoke flares were thrown towards police vans that blocked the entrance to the hotel.
The latest demonstration comes after eight police officers were injured in what started as a peaceful protest outside the hotel on Thursday evening.
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Keith Silk, 33, of Torrington Drive, Loughton, is due to appear at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Monday charged with violent disorder and criminal damage after being arrested on Saturday.
Protesters held signs saying: ‘Save our kids’ as protests continued. (PA)
Here is what we know about the protests and why they’re happening.
What are the protests about?
There have been a series of protests outside the hotel since 38-year-old asylum seeker Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu was charged with sexual assault following an incident where he is alleged to have attempted to kiss a 14-year-old girl.
He denied the charge when he appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, 17 July.
The protests come amid a wider debate over the use of hotels to house asylum seekers, with growing tensions in some towns and cities.
Police have been outside the Bell Hotel as protests continued. (PA)
What has happened now?
On Sunday (20 July) more than 100 protestors gathered outside the hotel, with some chanting “save our kids”.
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A line of police vans and officers blocked off the entrance to the hotel, with protesters facing them on the other side of the pavement and later throwing bottles and smoke flares.
Some protestors held signs saying “deport foreign criminals”, “we go home when they go back” and “defend our girls”. A small number were wearing balaclavas and face coverings.
Protesters set off smoke and chanted during Sunday’s demonstration. (Getty)
What do local politicians say?
Local Conservative MPs, Epping Forest’s Neil Hudson and Alex Burghart, who represents Brentwood and Ongar, as well as Chris Whitbread, the Conservative leader of Epping Forest District Council, have called for the Home Office to stop housing asylum seekers at the hotel.
In a statement last week, Hudson and Burghart said: “The situation regarding the use of asylum hotels in Epping Forest District has become increasingly alarming and distressing in recent days.
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“From the fires at the Phoenix Hotel and Bell Hotel a few weeks ago leading to a man being charged with arson, and now the alleged sexual assaults in Epping last week, leading to a man being charged, our local communities are becoming increasingly distressed.
“It is becoming more apparent that the Home Office do not have a grasp about the seriousness of this situation with regard to local community safety, or accountability or safeguarding of hotel residents.
“Together as neighbouring Constituency MPs, along with Epping Forest District Council, we are calling on the Government to immediately close the Bell and Phoenix Hotels and make alternative arrangements accordingly.”
Police officers at the scene at The Bell Hotel on Sunday night as protests continued. (AFP)
They said they had requested an urgent meeting with the Home Secretary, adding: “The Government needs to get a grip of this issue both locally and nationally.
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“Labour made promises that they would end the use of asylum hotels. They also made promises on illegal immigration, but on their watch this has markedly gone up.”
Whitbread said in a statement: “We have consistently shared concerns with the Home Office that the Bell Hotel is an entirely unsuitable location for this facility and should close.
“We continue to press Home Office officials for the immediate closure of the site and are encouraged that our local MPs are now actively supporting our call.”
What does the government say?
Sir Keir Starmer pledged to “end asylum hotels, saving the taxpayer billions of pounds” during last year’s general election.
But concerns have been voiced, including from his own backbenchers, over whether the government is achieving its aims of cutting the asylum backlog and housing people in longer term temporary housing.
In the wake of the latest protests, a spokesman for the Prime Minister reportedly said it was important that legitimate protest did not cross a line into criminality, adding that there is a clear government policy to reduce the use of asylum hotels.
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Five arrested as more than 1,000 protesters gather outside Essex asylum hotel
Demonstrators chanted ‘send them home’ and ‘save our kids’ bottles and smoke flares were thrown towards police vans blocking the entrance to the Bell hotel in Epping. Police escorted a counter-protester, an elderly woman, out of the area surrounding the hotel, as a group of masked protesters followed her and shouted abuse. A 33-year-old man has been charged by officers, who made a number of arrests and circulated images of suspects. Police said: “Disappointingly we have seen yet another protest, which had begun peacefully, escalate into mindless thuggery with individuals again hurting one of our officers and damaging a police vehicle,” Ch Spt Simon Anslow said in a statement. The hotel has been the focus of anti-migrant protests.
Demonstrators, some of whom appeared to be drinking alcohol, chanted “send them home” and “save our kids” as bottles and smoke flares were thrown towards police vans blocking the entrance to the Bell hotel in Epping on Sunday evening.
Police escorted a counter-protester, an elderly woman, out of the area surrounding the hotel, as a group of masked protesters followed her and shouted abuse.
View image in fullscreen Police officers escort a woman away from a demonstration for her own safety. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
Officers had said they would “deal robustly” with criminal behaviour as hundreds joined a fresh protest at the hotel where there were violent clashes last week.
“Disappointingly we have seen yet another protest, which had begun peacefully, escalate into mindless thuggery with individuals again hurting one of our officers and damaging a police vehicle,” Ch Spt Simon Anslow said in a statement.
An order threatening arrest for anyone who refused to remove face coverings would be in place all Sunday night, Essex police said before the protest began.
Public order vans were stationed outside the hotel in Epping in a change in police tactics after eight officers were assaulted on Thursday and police vehicles were smashed by groups of men.
Police said: “Following a large number of individuals congregating on Epping High Road, we have taken the decision to temporarily close the road.”
View image in fullscreen Police officers on guard outside the Bell hotel in Epping, Essex, on Sunday. The hotel has been the focus of anti-migrant protests. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
A 33-year-old man has been charged by officers, who made a number of arrests and circulated images of suspects.
Keith Silk, of Loughton, was charged with violent disorder and criminal damage. Dean Walters, 65 and from Harlow, had earlier been charged with affray and will appear at court in September.
Far-right activists associated with groups including Britain First were among those in a crowd that gathered outside the Bell hotel on Thursday, where local people including women and children were protesting peacefully.
Clashes with police broke out as groups of men, some of them masked, tried to reach a small anti-racism march that started at Epping station and went through the town before it was hemmed in.
In an apparent response to allegations that the police had taken a “two-tier” approach that favoured the counter-demonstration, Ch Supt Simon Anslow said: “Unfortunately, across social media we are seeing inflammatory comments which suggest we were supporting and enabling certain protesters.
“This is categorically not true. We police without fear or favour, remaining impartial at all times and have legal responsibilities to ensure peaceful protest is facilitated.”
Tensions were high in Epping after the appearance in court on Thursday of an asylum seeker charged with three counts of sexual assault.
Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, from Ethiopia, who denies the offences, was remanded in custody before a two-day trial next month at Chelmsford magistrates court.
Neil Hudson, the local Conservative MP, has been calling on the Home Office to close the hotel and described the violence in the town on Thursday as “completely unacceptable”.
“Police put themselves in harm’s way to keep us safe. People have the right to peacefully protest but these violent scenes are not us, not Epping, not what we stand for,” he said in a post on X.