I live by the Epping hotel – protests have made us more unsafe, not less

For the fifth time this month, hundreds of people protested outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Epping this weekend, with many wearing the flag of St George. The protests began on 13 July after an asylum seeker housed at the Bell Hotel was charged with sexual assault on a 14-year-old girl. The local area has since been consumed by far-right protests, which have spread to other hotels in Diss, Norfolk and Canary Wharf, London. Here, Epping locals explain what it’s like living in a town that has become a focal point for the extreme right. (Photo: Guy Smallman/Getty)

‘It’s escalated into a spree of hate’

Katherine, 38, resident for eight years, says: “I moved to Epping from London eight years ago. It is quite an affluent area. There are mega mansions, and people are very well-to-do. These protests have never happened before. But now, people have been coming into Epping from all over to protest. It started off as people from the community protesting about the young girl who is alleged to have been assaulted. But it’s escalated into a spree of hate. It’s no longer a community protest about a local girl. I happened to be driving back from my parents’ house in Suffolk when the fifth protest was happening outside the hotel; an innocuous building on a busy A-road out of Epping Forest. As we turned the corner to drive past the hotel, there were people with their hoods up wearing masks; clearly, they didn’t want to be identified which doesn’t signal a peaceful protest to me. There was a massive truck parked outside the hotel and a huge sign that said: Stop The Boats. The crowd seemed to be decorated in St George flags.” (Photo: Yui Mok/PA Wire)

‘This makes me question the people who live here’

Katherine continues: “We had to slow down to get through as police had cordoned off some of the road, and the protestors were clattering against a metal fence. Some drivers were honking in support as we drove past, and the protestors celebrated. I feel so disappointed. I always thought that Epping was a really nice, positive place to live. But this has made me question the people who live here. I know that not all of the people who live in the area support this, but on the local social media groups, everyone is saying the most hateful things.” (Photo: Carl Court/Getty)

‘Counter-protesters get drowned out by unfiltered hate’

She says: “People are calling for the local pub to host a victory party if the protesters manage to shut down the hotel. And it seems to be spreading. I’ve got friends in Ongar in Essex, a 25-minute drive away, and their local Facebook groups are also being bombarded with constant posts about ‘stopping the boats’. One woman posted a photo of her holding a sign that said: ‘I’m not far right – I’m worried about my children’. She also posted wearing a Trump MAGA hat. I was pleased to later learn there was a considerable counter-protest at the most recent event. But online, they get drowned out by so much unfiltered hate. The administrator of our local Facebook page doesn’t remove any of the posts, so it seems they agree with what is being said. The worrying part is that it feels like a lot of local people agree.” (Photo: Carl Court/Getty)

‘No one wants to be on the high street’

Steve, 37, resident for seven years, says: “What started as local outrage is getting out of hand. The area feels unsafe. No one wants to be on the high street. There are messages from my daughter’s school telling children and parents to go straight home after they leave school holiday clubs and not to wander on the high street, as there are protests. It’s much less safe than it was before any of this happened. I really don’t want to go to the high street when these protests are on, because there is this view that anyone who doesn’t stand with them is a villain. I have been here seven years, and Essex has always leaned towards the right, but that has never been a big issue for me. I have always got on with people no matter what side of the political spectrum they are on. I know there were reports of people setting fire to the hotel, as well as what is said to have happened to the minor. I can see why people might have been worried about a sexual assault in the area.” (Photo: Lucy North/PA)

‘From peaceful protest to fights with police’

Steve continues: “Initially, it wasn’t a political thing; it was mums with signs outside the hotel. But now it has really been blown out of proportion with far-right protestors travelling here from other parts of London. It feels very much like we are in America, with everyone blue or red, and all the extremist groups on social media. It’s caused some friction with neighbours. I know people who live around the corner from me who have been getting into fights with police and jumping onto police cars. There’s no need for it. The original message was relatively peaceful, but this is completely overshadowing that.” (Photo: Lab Ky Mo/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty)

‘There is a lot of anger out there’

He says: “As a resident, I find it embarrassing. I try to argue with my neighbours and people on social media with facts and statistics, but people aren’t interested in hearing it. The police seem to be dealing with the suspect swiftly. It’s a shame that people have been so gullible about immigrants harming the economy. Now it all seems to be going crazy. There are far-right extremist groups based outside of Epping that are taking advantage of the situation, twisting the truth and trying to mobilise people with catchphrases. There’s a particular man who is a key activist for a far-right group based in Epping. They are trying to play the goodie-two-shoes by litter picking in the day, but at the same time promoting this really hateful, racist ideology online. He doesn’t want anyone who is not white British in Britain. He thinks he is an outstanding member of the community, and he is calling for the protests to be peaceful, but at the same time demanding hateful things. ‘British Born and Bred and white,” is the sort of thing he says. I’m trying to calm neighbours down in local WhatsApp groups: they have been getting quite riled up in their support of the protests. I can see first-hand in Epping that there is a lot of anger out there. I know that people find it really hard to trust the Government right now, especially after Boris Johnson, and they are much more drawn to emotional politics rather than facts and compassion.” (Photo: Carl Court/Getty)