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🇮🇪 Ireland /Culture & Society

Who is 'Danny Tommo', the man behind anti-migrant protests on England's south coast?

From Irish Times · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

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  • Up to 500 masked men blocked roads near Dover's port during an organised anti-migrant protest, while a separate demonstration in Portsmouth followed the arrival of a small boat carrying 140 migrants.
  • Both protests were organised by Daniel Thomas, known online as “Danny Tommo,” a hard-right activist who served a two-year prison sentence for attempted kidnapping.
  • The Dover action was conducted under Thomas's Patriot Platform banner, and police reported scuffles with protesters in Portsmouth.

For several hours on Saturday, up to 500 black-clad, masked men blocked the main roads leading to Dover's port. They chanted “Stop the boats,” targeting the main arrival point for migrants crossing from France in small boats. In practice, the blockade mostly stopped passenger ferries travelling in the opposite direction.

Stop the boats.

· Anti-migrant protestersThe slogan was chanted during the blockade at Dover's port.

The protest remained non-violent but was highly organised and appeared to catch police off guard. Organisers said they had lawyers ready to advise officers by phone, while masked demonstrators carried paperwork setting out their legal rights. A separate group of social media streamers followed the action.

The next evening, about 190km west in Portsmouth, a more spontaneous protest began after a dinghy carrying 140 migrants reached the Hampshire port. Small boats rarely arrive there because the crossing is much longer than the route to Dover. Border officials tried to take the migrants by coach to an asylum-processing centre in Kent, but an impromptu crowd confronted them. Many protesters wore masks, and scuffles broke out between demonstrators and police.

Direct action

· Daniel ThomasThomas used the term when warning that right-wing activists would increasingly take such steps.

Both protests were organised by Daniel Thomas, a 37-year-old anti-migration activist who uses the name “Danny Tommo” on social media. He has been prominent in Britain's hard-right activist scene for about a decade, after serving a two-year prison sentence for attempted kidnapping in 2016. Thomas says he became religious after prison and operates between Britain's political hard right and a right-wing Christian evangelical movement that has become allied with it in recent years.

Warning

· Daniel ThomasHe described the Dover protest as a warning to authorities.

The Dover demonstration took place under the banner of the Patriot Platform, which Thomas launched this year. He has warned that right-wing activists will increasingly use “direct action,” and described the Dover protest as a “warning” to authorities and a “message ... Imagine how powerful the next message will be”. Less than 36 hours later, he filmed himself confronting police near Portsmouth, close to his home on Hayling Island, as officers loaded the newly arrived asylum seekers onto buses.

Message ... Imagine how powerful the next message will be

· Daniel ThomasThomas characterised the Dover protest as a message and hinted at a stronger future action.
About this summary

Originally published by Irish Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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