A mob of anti-migrant protesters swarmed the hotel where a teenage Pakistani cricket team were staying, after rumours circulated that they were migrants.
The U-19 cricket team were spotted by ‘concerned local residents’ on a coach entering the Marriott hotel in Portsmouth on Tuesday ahead of their game against England.
Hampshire’s Reform UK leader, George Madgwick claimed 50 protestors marched on the hotel before realising their mistake.
He said: ‘I spoke to the crowd forming, who were all respectful and calm – but concerned. The man leading the crowd was very clear they must remain in public land, stay calm, no drinking, no abuse.’
Cllr Madgwick said he went in to the hotel to seek proof the young cricketers were who they said they were.
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‘I visited the manager and the hotel explained it was a Pakistani Cricket team staying’, he said.
‘The cricket team coach came to speak to me personally and I saw proof. I then went to speak to the crowd gathering of 40/50 people and confirmed with them and assured them that it was a cricket team.
‘Immediately the crowd respectfully accepted that, called for calm and asked the rest of them to leave now. Within five minutes they were gone. The hotel manager was very thankful and actually was sympathetic to the local issues at the moment.’
He added: ‘I think the main reason people believed it could have been possible is because it just so happened the cricketers used the precise same coach company that was used by the Home Office to transport the migrants in Portsmouth.
‘That was an unfortunate coincidence which triggered the concerns.’
The Pakistani team went on to smash England U-19s by 177-runs.
Responding to the Marriott Hotel demonstration, Stand Up To Racism said: ‘Allowing racists to mobilise like this every time they become suspicious of any group of non-white people in Portsmouth is extremely dangerous. It is racism in action and it has to stop.’
(Picture: Getty Images Europe)
Another protest was held outside the RNLI HQ in Portsmouth where a dozen or so people turned up to shout at the coastguard for saving people at sea.
The ‘patriots’ barked through megaphones outside a supposedly ‘silent vigil’ in Poole. A volunteer RNLI crew rescued approximately 140 migrants from a ‘mega dinghy’ crossing the English Channel on Sunday night, triggering intense far-right protests and sea blockades in Eastney, Portsmouth.
Activists aggressively targeted the emergency responders, clashing with local police and later doxxing the RNLI volunteers online by publishing their names and addresses alongside accusations of being “traitors”.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said it was investigating potential assaults on officers and criminal damage after official vehicles were targeted.
MORE: RNLI boats denied entry to two ports before being met by protesting crowds at Portsmouth
MORE: Nigel Farage calls for ban on face coverings in public after protests
MORE: Who is Danny Tommo? Tommy Robinson’s ‘right-hand man’ behind anti-migrant protests
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