A third man has been arrested after violent protests erupted outside an asylum hotel following the arrest of an Ethiopian resident accused of sexually assaulting schoolgirls.
A 33-year-old man from Loughton was arrested tonight on suspicion of violent disorder and criminal damage following the incident in Epping, Essex.
He is currently in custody where he will be questioned.
Hundreds of furious residents gathered outside the Bell Hotel, on Thursday, as it has been operating as an asylum hotel on and off for the last five years.
It began peacefully but later blew into violence after a group of hardcore agitators stopped three Essex Police riot vans from driving past the hotel to support their colleagues in the centre of the town.
Children in balaclavas joined grown men and women to block the road by standing across it, before protesters started attacking the police vehicles, with some seen hurling projectiles at the vans and officers.
It comes after Ethiopian asylum 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.
A third man has been arrested after violent anti-migrant protests erupted outside an asylum hotel in Essex. Above, a man dressed in all black stands on the bonnet of a police van with its windows smashed
A protestor appears to be detained by police
It comes after Ethiopian asylum seeker Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, was charged with a number of sexual offences against schoolgirls
Kebatu appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, July 10, and denied all offences.
He 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.
Police say eight officers were assaulted when crowds surrounded a small counter-demonstration.
Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow said: ‘The events in Epping on Thursday were shocking and have no place in our neighbourhoods.
‘We understand the concerns of the local community and support everyone’s right to peaceful protest.
‘Unfortunately, across social media we are seeing inflammatory comments which suggest we were supporting and enabling certain protestors.
‘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.
A man was seen being struck by a police van following violent protests outside a migrant hotel in Essex
He is seen being shunted backwards by the police van as it continues down the road
Seconds earlier, a police van leading the convoy was seen hurtling through a plastic barrier
‘Our priority during the policing of this incident was the safety of everyone there, we used tried and tested public order tactics to achieve this.
‘This included keeping opposing protestors apart to avoid violence. The early protest was peaceful, with people expressing their views.
‘We will continue to support people to do this, but we will not tolerate anyone who comes with the intent to commit crime or who resort to crime because others present take a different view to them.
‘Officers will act robustly and swiftly towards anyone intent on disrupting the local community’s right to have their voices heard.’
Police on patrol also arrested a man on suspicion of affray, following an assault reported close to The Bell Hotel on Sunday evening.
Dean Walters, 65, of Harlow, has been charged and released on bail to appear at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on September 24, with stringent conditions until then.
A second person was arrested on Thursday night for failing to comply with orders given around dispersal and remained in custody.
Dramatic footage also emerged from the protest which appears to show the moment a demonstrator is driven into by one of the police vehicles.
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
Police armed with riot shields form a barrier across the road following a major public order incident in Epping on Thursday
The Essex Police van can be seen knocking over the young man, who stood in Epping High Road, in what appears to be an attempt to stop the vehicle leaving.
Protesters had erected a make-shift barrier made up of pallets and plastic fencing in the road to stop police leaving the scene.
But the first of four Essex Police vans crashed through the barrier, leading to a protester to stand in the road, who was then knocked out of the way by the second van as people screamed: ‘Oh my god’ and ‘what the f***’.
The youth who was mown down by the police van is then seen getting up and brushing himself down as he shouts at the convoy.
Another man, who was standing by the side of the road, also fell to the ground during the chaotic clip.
Speaking of the incident, ACC Hooper said the video had been reported to the force, but said they had seen another video ‘which maybe shows it from a different angle’
Essex Police officers, dressed in full riot-gear, can be seen sat in the vehicles – as thugs are seen attacking the vans, kicking and launching missiles at them.
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
Photos from later in the evening show one of the vans with a smashed windscreen, while one masked man is seen jumping up and down on the roof of another police vehicle.
They had been among up to 100 officers who battled with anti-migrant protesters who had confronted a counter an anti-racism demonstration.
Counter protestors carried placards reading ‘Refugees Welcome’, but were pelted with bottles, eggs and can and told to ‘f*** off out of Epping’ by an angry mob.
The agitators also threw fireworks and bottles at police as they sought to protect anti-racism counter-demonstrators.
