The far-right false claims are being called out...
Essex Police are tackling head on false claims made by far-right accounts on social media about recent protests in Epping relating to a hotel housing asylum seekers.
Recent days have seen a number of protests in Epping over a hotel housing asylum seekers, after a man living in the hotel was arrested, and subsequently charged, with sexual assault, harassment and inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity.
Hadush Kebatu, 41, from Ethiopia, has denied the offences and is in custody.
Following the arrest, Epping has seen a number of protests from both anti-migrant protesters as well as counter demonstrations outside the Bell Hotel in Epping.
Footage of one of the marches has gone viral over claims an officer policing the protest told his colleagues to look out for any “fascists”, however Essex police have been fact-checking those who have made false claims.
London Economic reports: “One major far-right account GB Politics had shared the footage with this claim, prompting Essex Police to issue an “important correction” on the matter.
“Sharing GB Politics now-deleted post, Essex Police said on X: “Quite an important correction on this clip doing the rounds. The video shows officers policing recent protests in Epping.
“The officer actually says: ‘If you see any FLASHES, left or right, you deal’. Officers often talk about being alert to ‘flashes/flashpoints’ at protests!”
An X account by the name of Wesley Winter also shared the clip, falsely claiming that police had been ordered to deal with ‘fascists’.
Essex Police responded: “Well, we had shared the footage posted by @GBPolitcs to correct the record… But they seem to have deleted their post!
“Here is the original footage. To repeat, the officer is actually saying: “If you see any FLASHES, left or right, you deal” – (in the context of flashpoints).”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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