Two people have been arrested after a protest outside a hotel housing asylum seekers during which eight officers were assaulted, Essex police said.
Riot police wore helmets and took up position while crowds of men, some masked, surrounded a small counter-demonstration by anti-racism activists on Thursday evening.
The counter-extremism group, Hope Not Hate, warned that known far-right activists were calling for further unrest in Epping and elsewhere.
The assistant chief constable Stuart Hooper condemned the violence as “mindless thuggery” and said it was started by people who “had come here intentionally to be involved in that kind of selfish vandalism and violence”.
Counterdemonstrators and police were pelted with plastic bottles, eggs and flour but the violence worsened as those in the crowd directly attacked the police and vandalised police vans as officers withdrew.
At a news conference in Epping on Friday, Hooper said: “Eight of my officers – and not only my officers, we were supported by colleagues from other forces as well – were assaulted last night and that is absolutely, totally unacceptable.”
He added: “They had injuries to their hands, and cuts and grazes as a result of the incidents last night.”
Hooper said one man was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of affray following reports of an assault during a protest on Sunday. A second person was arrested on Thursday night for failing to comply with orders given around dispersal and remained in custody.
He said the “selfish criminality” began at after 6.30pm following a “peaceful protest”. The violent crowd eventually dispersed at 11pm.
Hundreds of people had staged a demonstration outside the hotel in Epping, which has become a flashpoint for anti-immigration protest, days after two security guards were seriously assaulted during Sunday’s gathering.
Hope Not Hate said it had identified several far-right activists involved in the protests.
“Worryingly, some are calling for further unrest across the country, invoking ‘the lessons of Ballymena’ – referencing the anti-migrant violence in the Northern Irish town last month – and framing the Epping protests as the beginning of a “summer of disorder,” the group in a statement.
Hooper urged people not to attend any future protests outside the hotel that have been discussed on social media. In reference to last year’s riots, he said: “If you are coming here with the intention of carrying out mindless thuggery, that is not acceptable and we will deal with that.
“Whether it be our police vehicles being damaged, our officers being assaulted, we’ll make sure that those people feel the full force of the law.”
Tensions were high before the latest appearance in court on Thursday of an asylum seeker who has been charged with three counts of sexual assault. Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, from Ethiopia, who denies the offences, was remanded in custody before a two-day trial next month at Chelmsford magistrates court.
Earlier on Thursday, an anti-racism demonstration took place near the town’s railway station. Later hundreds of people congregated outside the hotel, with a flat-bed trailer on a lorry bearing a banner that read: “Protect our kids.”
Those present included people wearing T-shirts of the Britain First party. Far-right activists, who have a significant local presence, were central to the protest on Sunday and have been vocal on community Facebook groups.
Hooper said: “It’s our place to make sure that, without fear or favour, we’re supporting the right to protest. And that’s what we tried to achieve last night.”
