What happened Six people were taken into custody by officers during the latest protest outside a hotel used to house asylum seekers in Essex. The demonstrators chanted "send them home" and "save our kids", said The Guardian, as flares and bottles were hurled towards police vans outside the Bell Hotel in Epping. A man was charged with violent disorder and criminal damage on Sunday afternoon following clashes outside the hotel last week.
Who said what The protest began "peacefully", but descended into "mindless thuggery", said Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow. He denied "inflammatory" claims that police were favouring an anti-racism counter protest.
"Overall", the evening was "peaceful", said Dan Whitehead on Sky News, and residents are "simply angry about events that have unfolded here in recent weeks". The "trigger" was an alleged sexual assault by a migrant, said Laurie Wastell in The Spectator, and a feeling that the people of Epping are "being ignored".
What next? Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, from Ethiopia, who denies charges of sexual assault, will face a two-day trial next month at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court. Local police have imposed a Section 35 dispersal order to "prevent further crime or anti-social behaviour".
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