Angry mob launch ‘racist attack’ on staff starting shift at migrant hotel

Authorities are investigating a ‘racially motivated’ attack against security staff at a migrant hotel after video of the bloodied workers went viral.

A group of locals showed up outside the Bell Hotel in Epping to protest the housing of migrants there, after a resident of the hotel was charged with multiple crimes a week after arriving in the UK.

Ethiopian man Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, has been charged with three counts of sexual assault, one count of inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity, and one count of harassment without violence.

Kebatu lives at the hotel and has since been remanded in custody after his hearing last week, but denies any wrongdoing.

The crimes have enraged the local community, who met outside the hotel on Sunday, with counter-protesters from Waltham Forest Stand Up To Racism on the opposite side.

But a video of the demonstrators attacking a man who was walking to work in the hotel has gone viral, prompting police to launch an investigation.

A spokesperson from Essex Police told Metro no arrests have been made, but added: ‘We are investigating the assault of two members of security staff working at The Bell Hotel, in Epping, and are treating the offences as racially aggravated.

‘The assaults took place at a nearby bus stop in High Road, at around 8 pm on Sunday, July 13.’

The two security guards had arrived to begin their shift and were set upon by a group of men.

‘The two victims then managed to make their way past the protest into the hotel, where there was a significant policing presence, for safeguarding and to seek aid,’ they added.

‘Both victims have received hospital treatment for serious injuries, which are thankfully not life-threatening or life-changing. We will not tolerate violent incidents of this nature.

‘An extensive investigation is underway to identify those responsible, led by our detectives. Our investigation suggests the offences were racially aggravated. We are acutely aware and understand that emotions within the community are running high.

‘However, crime of any sort committed by anyone will not be tolerated. We continue to have a significant policing presence in the area to keep people safe.’

Local community leaders are still raising concerns about the hotel. Chris Whitbread, the leader of Epping Forest District Council, said they warned the Home Office that the site was ‘entirely inappropriate’.

‘Placing vulnerable individuals from a wide range of cultural backgrounds into an unsupervised setting, in the centre of a small town, without the proper infrastructure, support or services, is both reckless and unacceptable,’ he said.

‘It puts pressure on local services, causes understandable concern for residents, and is unfair on those placed in the hotel. The Home Office must now face the reality of the situation.’

Adam Brooks, who was at the protest, told Metro he didn’t witness any violence, but did witness locals ‘voicing their concerns and anger’.

‘I had women tell me that they’d been flashed while walking their dogs, and many also say that they’d been harassed by men from the hotel,’ he claimed.

‘I had nothing to do with organising this or even knowing who did, I was there to report the protest, and if I’m honest, I was there as a worried local father.

‘Violence is wrong under any circumstances. This isn’t about skin colour, race or religion, it is about public safety, especially that of our children locally.’

Adam said 12-15 counter protesters allegedly called the group ‘far-right Nazi scum’, which he says didn’t help the already high tensions.

The Bell Hotel declined to comment on the matter to Metro.

Last year, similar scenes unfolded outside of a migrant hotel in Rotherham when far-right rioters attempted to break into the building in the aftermath of the Southport killings.

In videos shared online, the mob was seen throwing bricks and chairs at officers with riot shields, before smashing windows and entering the building while chanting ‘Yorkshire, Yorkshire’.

Members of the mob, who waved Union flags and the St George’s Cross, taunted police in the car park of the hotel.

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