A protest triggered by the arrest of a migrant on sex assault charges against a 14-year-old schoolgirl descended into violence as thugs attacked three police vans and threw projectiles at officers.
On Thurday evening hundreds of furious residents gathered outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, which has been operating as an asylum hotel for the last five years.
The protest began peacefully, but as numbers dwindled a group of hardcore agitators stopped three Essex Police riot vans from driving past the hotel to support their colleagues in the centre of Epping.
Children in balaclavas joined grown men and women to block the road by standing across it.
Shortly before 8pm masked protesters attacked the police vehicles.
An angry mob repeatedly punched and kicked the vans, with another man yelling ‘smash it, smash it’ as officers sat trapped inside.
Several thugs then clambered on to the roof of the vehicles, before jumping up and down. The van was eventually forced to flee with its back doors wide open.
The agitators also threw fireworks and bottles at police as they protected the anti-racism counter-demonstrators.
One of the protestors jumps up and down on a police van while wrapped in the St George’s flag
Earlier the man could be seen scrambling up the windscreen of the van, with officers trapped inside
A line of men shout at police as they form a human baricade between the protestors and the anti-racism counter-protesters
A young man covers his face as he wals past a line of police officers at the protest
Another man dressed all in black approaches a police van as a braying mob watch on
The latest unrest has been triggered after Ethiopian aslyum seeker Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, was charged with a number of sexual offences
The latest unrest has been triggered after Ethiopian aslyum seeker Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, was charged with a number of sexual offences.
He was arrested by officers on July 8 after reports of a man acting inappropriately towards a number of people.
Kebatu appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 10 July and denied all offences.
Today Kebatu was charged with three counts of sexual assault, as well as one count of inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity and one count of harassment without violence.
At the protest well-dressed mothers stood side-by-side with retired businessmen and women and dozens of bald tattooed middle-aged men to call for the hotel to stop operating as refugee accommodation.
One bearded man wearing shorts draped a union flag over his shoulders as he took selfie pictures outside the embattled hostel.
Essex Police were out in force in the picturesque commuter town – blocking the entrance to the hotel car park with a riot van.
One of the demonstrators told how the ‘whole of Epping’ was united in opposition to housing asylum seekers in their town.
The 74-year-old retired company director who declined to give his name said: ‘We are all absolutely sick of it. They should all be sent back to where they’ve come from. If they came in a small boat from France then they should be sent back to France.
‘It’s absolutely outrageous that we have to pay for them – the food, their accommodation, their phones, everything.
Essex Police were out in force in Epping tonight as hundreds of angry residents took to the streetsto voice their anger after an asylum seeker was charged with sexual offences
A protestor is blocked by police as a counter-protest continues in the background, with people holding signs saying ‘Refugees welcome, stop the far-right’
Protestors gathered outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, which has reportedly been used to house migrants for the last five years
Hundreds of furious Essex residents took to the streets to voice their anger following the arrest of a migrant on sex assault charges against school girls
One of the demonstrators told how the ‘whole of Epping’ was united in opposition to housing asylum seekers in their town
A protestor lights a flare as residents called for
Well-dressed mothers and retired businessmen and women joined dozens of bald tattooed middle aged men to call for the closure of the Bell Hotel as refugee accommodation
One bearded man wearing shorts draped a union flag over his shoulders as he took selfie pictures outside the embattled hostel
‘How is it that our children can’t walk home from school without being attacked?’
A mother of three added: ‘This is not about being racist, it’s about protecting our children. There are a load of schools near here and there are all these single men here in the hotel and no one knows who they are.
‘They’ve not been screened, or checked or anything.’
One man held a flag of St George with the slogan written in black: ‘Save Our Kids’.
Youths wearing face masks, caps and sunglasses surged through bushes at the side of the road to try to confront their opponents.
Police were forced to push some of the anti-migrant protesters back.
But some managed to break through police lines and grabbed the anti-racism placards and threw them back at their opponents.
Meanwhile a middle aged man with a Union flag draped over his shoulders and a black trilby hat joined the crowd with a loud speaker playing ska music classics.
The man waved at passersby with the Union Jack draped over his shoulders
Beyond Union Jacks – others held a flag of St George with the slogan written in black; ‘Save Our Kids’
Essex Police were out in force in the picturesque commuter town – blocking the entrance to the hotel car park with a riot van
A 74-year-old retired company director who declined to give his name said: ‘We are all absolutely sick of it
Ethiopian asylum seeker Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu today appeared in court accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old schoolgirl and inciting her to engage in sex (file image)
Police were forced to create a protective ring around the 50 or so anti-racism demonstrators as they became surrounded by protesters at the entrance to Epping town centre.
Essex Police then deployed squads of riot officers as protesters urged the demonstrators to ‘f*** off out of Epping’ and accused them of protecting ‘paedos’.
The anti-racism group were pelted by occasional bottles, cans and eggs hurled by the anti-migrant protesters.
However as the sun began to set the protest outside hotel had petered out.
A temporary wire fence has been erected in recent days following a series of violent and bad tempered confrontations earlier in the week.
On Sunday night, rival groups of anti-migrant demonstrators and counter-protesters faced off outside the hotel.
Two people, who worked as security guards at the hotel, were left bloodied and injured on July 13 after being attacked at a bus stop.
Police said the two victims then managed to make their way past the protest site into the hotel, where there was a significant policing presence, to get help.
A second incident took place on Tuesday 15 July with a man shouting racial abuse directed at the hotel, before later causing damage to the property.
Police arrested a man on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence and criminal damage, although he was later released on bail.
