Twelve people were arrested after a protest involving approximately 350 anti-migrant demonstrators in Gosport, Hampshire, coinciding with the arrival of 149 migrants by boat. Police reported incidents of assault, criminal damage, and public order offenses during the demonstration, with a small number of officers treated for injuries. The migrants were transported to a processing center in Kent.
Around 350 people gathered on Haslar Road during the evening of Sunday, with the crowd dispersing by 2 a.m. Monday. Hampshire Police deployed officers, including a cordon on Haslar Road, and imposed conditions under the Public Order Act, prohibiting face coverings. Protesters reportedly blocked police vans and chanted slogans including “shame on you” and “deport the lot.” The RNLI, Maritime and Coastguard Agency, and Border Security Command were also involved in the operation to disembark the migrants.
Assistant Chief Constable Simon Dodds stated, “Violence and criminal damage have no part in peaceful protest…Last night saw a number of incidents that were clearly not peaceful protest, rather violent public disorder, and this will not be tolerated.” He added that officers “did not deserve to be assaulted” and condemned online abuse directed at them and partner agencies. Police are reviewing body-worn video and online footage to identify further offenses and potential arrests.
The arrested individuals include a 36-year-old man from Bognor Regis arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, failing to comply with a prohibited assembly direction, and failing to comply with a dispersal order; a 38-year-old man from Fareham arrested for failing to comply with a prohibited assembly direction; and a 45-year-old man from Gosport arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, criminal damage, and being drunk and disorderly.
Our reading is that the protest in Gosport, while described as involving “public order offenses,” escalated to violence and direct targeting of law enforcement. The differing reports on crowd size suggest a degree of editorial slant among the reporting outlets, with one outlet emphasizing the scale of the demonstration. The prior incident in Portsmouth and the subsequent sentencing suggest a pattern of escalating tensions around migrant arrivals and a willingness by some to engage in unlawful behaviour.
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