An Epping mother has spoken out after her arrest at an anti-migrant hotel protest where she hung the Union flag on a council building. Local resident Sarah White has been at multiple demonstrations in the town over the summer, yet was taken away by police officers on Sunday. The town in Essex has seen a wave of protests this summer after Ethiopian migrant Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, who was living at the Bell Hotel, was charged (and now found guilty) with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and another woman.
After the controversial court ruling, allowing the Bell Hotel to continue housing asylum seekers, protests erupted. Ms White explained that on each march she says, someone has placed a flag on a pole on the steps of the civic centre. However, as she didn’t have a pole, she decided to hang the flag over the balcony, which led to her arrest.
“I’m not a Nazi. I’m not looking to kill people, I’m looking to protect people. How can that label me as far-Right? If as a mother you want to stop women and children getting sexually assaulted…” she told the Telegraph.
“For some reason our flag is deemed racist. And recently people have been able to feel confident flying the British flag and saying ‘actually, I’m not racist, this is our country and we should be proud of it.’”
The mother of three, who runs a dog day care company, was detained while flying a flag from the council offices and was arrested for breaching Section 14 order from police to prevent disorder. The force strongly rejected suggestions she was arrested for flying a Union flag.
Ms White said she noticed a “shift” in energy between protesters and the police following the court ruling. “A few of them knew me by first name. They’d come up and go ‘another great turnout tonight’,” she said.
“After the ruling we had a protest and noticed that the energy had started to shift then…“It was like: we’re not your friends.”
Two men were also arrested in connection with the protest, which has built during recent weeks as campaigners sought to end the hotel’s role in housing asylum seekers through a legal battle. At first, this campaign appeared to succeed, but last week was struck down following a challenge from the hotel’s owners.
The Court of Appeal reversed an injunction blocking asylum seekers from staying at the Bell Hotel on 29 August. A High Court order previously required the 138 migrants to be removed by September 12. However, they are now able to stay at the hotel, and the local people are furious.
The mother of three is also one of many Epping residents who said they will refuse to make their council tax until the hotel is shut down. She said at a previous protest: “What is the point of paying our council tax if it is being directly used to fund a place which houses alleged sex attackers?”
Ms White was released on bail with conditions, one being she is not allowed to go to the civic centre. Her court date is set for October 15, which the same day a three-day hearing will begin to decide the fate of the Bell Hotel.