UK police arrest 5 men at hotel near London during anti-asylum protest
Two groups of protesters marched to the Crowne Plaza Hotel near Heathrow Airport before some masked men tried to break in, police said
British police said they arrested five people on Saturday after masked men tried to force their way into a hotel used by asylum seekers, a day after the government won a court ruling on the use of another hotel to house migrants.
Two groups of anti-asylum protesters marched to the Crowne Plaza Hotel near Heathrow Airport before some demonstrators tried to break in, London’s Metropolitan Police force said.
Two police officers suffered minor injuries, it said.
“We understand strength of feeling on these issues but where peaceful protest crosses the line into criminality, including injuries to our officers, we will take immediate action,” Commander Adam Slonecki said in a statement.
In a separate incident, three men were arrested late on Friday outside another hotel used to house asylum seekers in Epping in East London.
“The overwhelming majority of people in Epping tonight clearly wanted their voices to be heard and they did that safely and without the need for a police response,” said Assistant Chief Constable Glen Pavelin of Essex police.