Authorities have arrested three individuals during a demonstration held in Essex to protest the housing of asylum seekers at a local hotel.
The protest involved an organized march in Epping, focusing on The Bell Hotel, where approximately 140 migrants are currently accommodated.
Essex Police implemented a dispersal order and imposed specific restrictions on the demonstration, mandating its conclusion by 20:00 and prohibiting banners displaying “offensive or inflammatory language.”
According to law enforcement officials, one man was taken into custody on suspicion of inciting racial hatred, while a man and a woman were arrested for violating the established protest regulations.
Approximately 200 people congregated outside the Epping Forest District Council building, where a woman ascended the steps and unfurled a Union flag before being apprehended by officers after refusing to comply with requests to leave.
An Essex Police spokesperson clarified that the woman’s arrest was “categorically not for flying a Union Flag,” but rather due to her presence in an area where protesters were prohibited.
Another man was arrested for refusing to leave the area after the protest’s designated end time, thereby violating a section 14 order. The individual arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred was detained “after an emblem was reported to have been set alight” during a protest on Friday, police stated.
Earlier in the evening, protesters positioned themselves behind metal barriers across from the Bell Hotel, waving at passing vehicles whose drivers responded with horn signals.
The hotel has become the epicenter of several demonstrations and counter-protests in recent weeks following charges brought against an asylum seeker housed there, accusing him of sexually assaulting a teenage girl last month. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The case is currently proceeding through the judicial system.
On Friday, the Court of Appeal overturned a temporary injunction that would have prevented asylum seekers from being accommodated at the Bell Hotel.
Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Hooper stated, “We’ve consistently maintained that we will always strive to facilitate lawful protest, but this does not extend to a right to commit crime, and we will take decisive action against anyone intending to do so.”
“To reiterate to the public, the strength of feeling in Epping is not lost on me – or anyone in Essex Police – and I would urge anyone who wants to make their voices heard to please do that peacefully and within the parameters outlined,” he added.
These events occurred amidst a series of anti-asylum protests and counter-protests across England on Sunday, including those in London, Gloucester, and Norwich.
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