A mother-of-five who was arrested at a protest outside The Bell Hotel in Epping while holding a Union Jack has been released from custody after 24 hours – and claims police nearly broke her arm.
Sarah White was arrested at Epping District Council offices on Sunday night when she displayed the flag from the steps.
Police stressed she was arrested and placed in the back of a police car for not obeying the restrictions in place for the protest, which attracted hundreds of people.
Shocking footage showed the businesswoman arrested by several officers and then placed in the back of a van, while demonstrators shouted at police and urged them to release her.
Sarah – a Reform UK member – is one of the key organisers for the protests, which were held outside the Essex hotel in protest at a resident allegedly sexually assaulting a girl – which he denies.
In her first interview, just minutes after being released from custody on Monday, she said: ‘It is an absolute disgrace.
‘I am considering legal action against the police.
‘I was one click away from my arm being broken. It’s disgusting.
Footage shows Sarah White holding the flag above an entrance to Epping District Council’s Civic Centre at 7.15pm on Sunday
She was then seized by police and taken away in a van – as fellow demonstrators standing nearby reacted with fury
Anti-migrant protesters scuffle with police near the Bell Hotel in Epping on Sunday
The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, that has been used to house asylum seekers
Campaigner Sarah White is arrested outside The Civic Offices during a protest against housing of asylum seekers at The Bell Hotel in Epping
‘I cannot believe what happened.
‘I believe I was targeted and they wanted to make an example of me.’
She added: ‘I had given a speech about how Epping residents will plan to refuse to pay our council tax because the migrants are still at the hotel.
‘Minutes later, I placed the flag at the council office. At a lot of the protests we’ve been there. That’s been part of it.’
The mother claims she was ‘manhandled by several officers’.
‘I’ve only just been released, it’s nearly been 24 hours,’ Sarah, who has now been bailed, said.
A spokesperson for Essex Police said her arrest was ‘categorically not for flying a Union Flag‘, but because the Civic Centre was not an area where protesters were allowed. Two other men were arrested on the same night.
Sarah added: ‘I’m still in a state of shock. I knew they would hold me for nearly 24 hours.’
Protests at the Bell began last month after an Ethiopian migrant was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl
Crowds march towards the Civic Centre offices in Epping during the latest anti-migrant protest
Epping became an epicentre of protests that swept the country last month after a migrant resident was accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl
She added: ‘I feel like a political prisoner in a way. They tried to make an example of me.
‘I will not stop expressing my view and sharing concerns. I am still campaigning.
‘When I was in the van, I heard on the radio that the female prisoner should be de-arrested. That was me. I thought I was being released.
‘Then there was another call to say change of plan, and I was taken into custody.
‘It’s been unbelievable.’
Earlier in the evening, protesters stood behind metal barriers across the road from the Bell Hotel, waving at passing cars that sounded their horns.
Police officers watched on, with more waiting in vans on surrounding roads.
It comes after the Government last week won a court challenge which means 138 asylum seekers can continue to be housed at the local Bell Hotel.
The site became the epicentre of protests that swept the country last month after a migrant resident was accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
He denies the charges.
