Police have hit out at the violent protesters who threw projectiles, damaged police vehicles and attacked officers at the clash outside a Epping hotel housing asylum seekers on Thursday night (July 17). Residents opposing migrants being placed at The Bell Hotel – over the London border into Essex – gathered outside but what police have described as a peaceful protest was taken over by anti-racism counter-protesters.
Protests erupted after an asylum seeker was charged by Essex Police with three counts of sexual assault, one count of inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity and one count of harassment without violence. Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (July 10) and denied all the alleged offences.
On Thursday night Last night (July 17) officers struggled to keep the crowds back at points as protesters screamed “shame on you”, in the direction of the counter-protesters and police. One officer was seen being hit in the head by a projectile thrown from someone in the crowd, as reported by sister site Essex Live.
The clash came after another protest outside the same hotel on Sunday (July 13). Two security guards were seriously assaulted by a group of men at a bus stop in the town.
Police comment on ‘strength of feeling locally’
Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow said: “I am sure those living in Epping have concerns following Thursday night. I share those concerns. We know the people who carried out these crimes do not represent Epping or Essex.
“Nothing about the offending we saw on Thursday is representative of these communities, or the peaceful event that ended before this started. This was crime. Our detectives are already working through the footage of this evening – from our officers bodyworn camera, from our drones and from social media – and where offences are identified we will take action.
“People attended the earlier protest and did so peacefully, lawfully and responsibly. I’d like to thank them for expressing their views this way given the strength of feeling locally. The details of the ongoing sexual assault case can be found on our website, and I reiterate the importance for respect for the court process to prevent the release of any prejudicial information in relation to that case.”
Police to increase patrols in the area
A spokeperson from Essex Police said: “Our officers have been in Epping, where a number of people disrupted peaceful protests with projectiles. We have identified several suspects we believe are responsible for damaging police vehicles, the hotel, and assaulting our officers.
“One of our officers was left with a minor injury to their neck. These investigations are underway, with images circulated across our teams and to neighbouring police forces.
“Despite these incidents, we’d like to thank the many protestors who attended peacefully throughout the evening. Later, others intent on offending caused substantial disruption in Epping town centre. Faced with significant hostility our officers, supported by the Metropolitan Police Service and British Transport Police, responded to that offending. If you’re in Epping over the coming days you’ll see us out on patrol and we want to hear from you.”
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