Latest news with #Kebatu
Spectator
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Spectator
The people of Epping are fed up of being ignored
'We are facing a long, hot summer', warned a report social cohesion on Tuesday, 'with a powder keg of tensions left largely unaddressed from last year that could easily ignite once again'. It only took two days for the first sign of this grim prediction coming true. This time, though, the expression of public fury at migration failures was not in 'left-behind' northern towns like Hull or Hartlepool – or even like last month in Ballymena, where tight-knit loyalist communities have a history of kicking off to defend their interests. Thursday's protests – and later clashes – at an asylum hotel were in the quiet Essex market town of Epping, population 12,000, mentioned in the Domesday Book and a well-heeled part of the London commuter belt at the terminus of the Central Line. The trigger was an alleged sexual assault by a migrant. On 7 July, Hadush Kebatu, an Ethiopian asylum seeker, is alleged to have tried to kiss a schoolgirl as she ate pizza on Epping high street. He had arrived in the UK via a small boat only eight days previously. He has denied three charges of sexual assault across two days, and the protests coincided with his appearance in court for a hearing ahead of a two-day trial next month. He spoke via an interpreter, and according to the prosecution has 'no ties to anyone or any place in the UK'. The site of the protests was the Bell Hotel, where Kebatu had been living. Having been used to house male asylum seekers in Epping for several years, and sitting less than 500 yards from a coeducational secondary school, it was already a major local grievance. Following the alleged sexual assault, the leader of Epping Forest District Council called for the Home Office to close the asylum hotel 'without delay'. He was joined two local Tory MPs – Epping Forest's Neil Hudson and Alex Burghart of Brentwood and Ongar. Commentator Adam Brooks, who was at the protest, reported to GB News that it began entirely peacefully – 'great-natured' with grandparents and children. 'People attended the earlier protest and did so peacefully, lawfully and responsibly', an Essex Police official said, adding: 'I'd like to thank them for expressing their views this way given the strength of feeling locally.' In Brook's view, it was only when so-called anti-racism protestors arrived and were allowed to march by the demonstration, flanked by police, that tensions flared, with many local youths coming out to confront them. Some were later escorted away in riot vans. During the Southport riots last year, it was often claimed that much of the disorder was the result of opportunist 'thugs' who had arrived from out of town to stir up trouble. At yesterday's protest, it seems it was after the arrival of these left-wing protestors, often masked and with 'Refugees Welcome' placards, that disorder began. While Essex Police made a point of describing earlier protestors as 'legitimately protesting', there is evidence of apparent harsh police treatment of some involved. In social media footage, one police van appears to hit a man and push him down the street before he gets out the way. Another clip shows a man confronting police apparently being hit in the face with a riot shield. Essex Police said it believed several suspects were responsible for damaging police vehicles, the hotel, preventing access to Epping High Road, and assaulting officers, with one left with a minor injury to the neck. 'We know the people who carried out these crimes do not represent Epping or Essex', it added. While parts of the press are presenting those involved as 'far-right supporters', or an 'anti-immigrant mob', in footage of protesters, they seem more to be ordinary locals who are simply fed up with being ignored by the political class. 'We're good, local, taxpaying people' says a smartly dressed mother-of-three in a speech through a megaphone, standing on the back of a van adorned with St. George's crosses. Why were the police 'allowing agitators to come and fight against us?' she asks, eliciting a cheer, before voicing her typical concerns about illegal migration. Unvetted men are coming across the channel every day who 'don't share our values', she said, who 'don't respect women' and 'don't respect children'. The UK, she laments, is 'a soft touch' for migrants. Apparently entirely impromptu, her speech is heartfelt, patriotic, and potent: 'Every child's right is to walk to school and not fear that they are going to be sexually assaulted or raped. We do not live in a third world country. This is the United Kingdom the last time I looked.' This fed up, outspoken Essex mum doesn't care that the 'anti-racism' types and left-wing media will try and smear people like her: if she's 'far-right' for standing up for schoolgirls' safety, she says, 'then so be it'.
Metro
2 days ago
- Metro
Riot police smash through blockade as protesters clash over migrant hotel
Tensions are flaring again outside of a migrant hotel in Essex. Protesters have caused damage to police vehicles. Videos are circulating of protesters, many draped in the English flag, jumping on police vans driving towards the centre of the unrest. Some witnesses have said he was run over by the car, but the circumstances are unclear. Metro has contacted Essex Police. Most of the demonstrations earlier in the day were peaceful, but riot police were called after men, some of whom were masked, threw bottles, eggs and flour at anti-racism counter-protesters. Chaos unfolded again when the riot police entered the area, blocked by many of the locals protesting against the hotel, where a migrant who is facing multiple sexual assault charges on a child had been staying. Ethiopian man Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, has been charged with three counts of sexual assault, one count of inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity, and one count of harassment without violence. Kebatu lives at the hotel and has since been remanded in custody after his hearing last week, but denies any wrongdoing. On Sunday, a group showed up to protest, and some men launched an attack on two hotel workers who had just got off the bus to begin their shift, mistaking them for hotel residents. Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow said: 'Disruption and offending is never an appropriate response, no matter the strength of feeling in this case, and on this issue. 'People protesting peacefully, lawfully and responsibly cause us – and the wider public – no concern. 'However, we can never and will never tolerate criminal violence of any sort, and anyone identified as committing a crime will be dealt with robustly.' One Epping resident said of the protests: 'There is a very vocal hardcore local group. 'Most people would rather it [the hotel] was not there, that it was back as a hotel, but it is what it is, and maybe there's a case for new arrivals to be kept somewhere more secure and be checked.' More Trending The Bell Hotel declined to comment on the matter to Metro. Local community leaders are still raising concerns about the hotel. Chris Whitbread, the leader of Epping Forest District Council, said they warned the Home Office that the site was 'entirely inappropriate'. 'Placing vulnerable individuals from a wide range of cultural backgrounds into an unsupervised setting, in the centre of a small town, without the proper infrastructure, support or services, is both reckless and unacceptable,' he said. 'It puts pressure on local services, causes understandable concern for residents, and is unfair on those placed in the hotel. The Home Office must now face the reality of the situation.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page.
Metro
4 days ago
- Metro
Angry mob launch 'racist attack' on staff starting shift at migrant hotel
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Authorities are investigating a 'racially motivated' attack against security staff at a migrant hotel after video of the bloodied workers went viral. A group of locals showed up outside the Bell Hotel in Epping to protest the housing of migrants there, after a resident of the hotel was charged with multiple crimes a week after arriving in the UK. Ethiopian man Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, has been charged with three counts of sexual assault, one count of inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity, and one count of harassment without violence. Kebatu lives at the hotel and has since been remanded in custody after his hearing last week, but denies any wrongdoing. The crimes have enraged the local community, who met outside the hotel on Sunday, with counter-protesters from Waltham Forest Stand Up To Racism on the opposite side. But a video of the demonstrators attacking a man who was walking to work in the hotel has gone viral, prompting police to launch an investigation. A spokesperson from Essex Police told Metro no arrests have been made, but added: 'We are investigating the assault of two members of security staff working at The Bell Hotel, in Epping, and are treating the offences as racially aggravated. 'The assaults took place at a nearby bus stop in High Road, at around 8 pm on Sunday, July 13.' The two security guards had arrived to begin their shift and were set upon by a group of men. 'The two victims then managed to make their way past the protest into the hotel, where there was a significant policing presence, for safeguarding and to seek aid,' they added. 'Both victims have received hospital treatment for serious injuries, which are thankfully not life-threatening or life-changing. We will not tolerate violent incidents of this nature. 'An extensive investigation is underway to identify those responsible, led by our detectives. Our investigation suggests the offences were racially aggravated. We are acutely aware and understand that emotions within the community are running high. 'However, crime of any sort committed by anyone will not be tolerated. We continue to have a significant policing presence in the area to keep people safe.' Local community leaders are still raising concerns about the hotel. Chris Whitbread, the leader of Epping Forest District Council, said they warned the Home Office that the site was 'entirely inappropriate'. 'Placing vulnerable individuals from a wide range of cultural backgrounds into an unsupervised setting, in the centre of a small town, without the proper infrastructure, support or services, is both reckless and unacceptable,' he said. 'It puts pressure on local services, causes understandable concern for residents, and is unfair on those placed in the hotel. The Home Office must now face the reality of the situation.' Adam Brooks, who was at the protest, told Metro he didn't witness any violence, but did witness locals 'voicing their concerns and anger'. 'I had women tell me that they'd been flashed while walking their dogs, and many also say that they'd been harassed by men from the hotel,' he claimed. 'I had nothing to do with organising this or even knowing who did, I was there to report the protest, and if I'm honest, I was there as a worried local father. 'Violence is wrong under any circumstances. This isn't about skin colour, race or religion, it is about public safety, especially that of our children locally.' Adam said 12-15 counter protesters allegedly called the group 'far-right Nazi scum', which he says didn't help the already high tensions. More Trending The Bell Hotel declined to comment on the matter to Metro. Last year, similar scenes unfolded outside of a migrant hotel in Rotherham when far-right rioters attempted to break into the building in the aftermath of the Southport killings. In videos shared online, the mob was seen throwing bricks and chairs at officers with riot shields, before smashing windows and entering the building while chanting 'Yorkshire, Yorkshire'. Members of the mob, who waved Union flags and the St George's Cross, taunted police in the car park of the hotel. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Newly-married nurse killed in Southend plane crash was on her first day in job MORE: I was a typical 7-year-old – until the tanks rolled in MORE: Delays and diplomacy: Inside Starmer's migrant deal announcement with Macron
