The Epping protests: How a peaceful stand for Children was hijacked.

What happened in Epping this week started as something powerful…raw, emotional and real. It was community led, it was righteous and it was entirely justified. I was there. I spoke to mothers holding their children, worried sick about the safety of their daughters. I stood with grandparents who remembered a different Britain, one where your child could walk home from school without fear. Fathers, locals, kids from the nearby school, all united in one clear message…protect our children.

The atmosphere in those early hours was tense but calm, determined but controlled. Police were present and I spoke to them too, there was mutual respect. I saw councillors talking to residents. It felt like democracy in action, real people voicing real concerns about the disgraceful decision to house unvetted, unidentified adult males in the Bell Hotel, just a stone’s throw from a school. There was no consultation, no risk assessment and no transparency. Just dumped into our community like we simply don’t matter.

Then, it changed…rapidly.

The so called “pro refugee” activists turned up, not locals, not parents and many masked up like they were walking into a warzone, not a peaceful protest imo. The police walked them down from Epping Station, a march of outsiders being escorted into a community already on edge. What did they think would happen?

Young men from the hotel protest, still peaceful, met them up the road before they reached the Bell. It was now really tense, but It turned sour quickly and

that’s when the mood shifted entirely. The police presence thickened. The women and children, still at the hotel, held their ground bravely, chanting “Protect our kids,” still speaking, still hoping to be heard over the chaos that was building just an few hundred metres away.

But this is Britain in 2025 and once videos started circulating online, on TikTok, Snapchat, you name it…groups of kids and teenagers from Epping, Harlow and towns beyond came flooding in. Many were shockingly young. Some came to “get involved,” others for mischief. And within hours, the line between a community protest and a chaotic street scene had been erased.

We all saw what happened next, viral videos of police vans being attacked, lines of riot police, missiles thrown. The night descended into utter chaos. It went all the way up to 10:30pm until the police finally issued a dispersal order. That’s when I stopped filming and reporting. The message had been totally lost.

And let me be clear, those kids destroying Police vehicles didn’t represent Epping, the masked activists didn’t represent Epping, the ones throwing bottles, setting off fireworks, and smashing up police vehicles didn’t speak for the parents and grandparents I stood beside earlier in the day.

The sad truth is, the people who turned out to protect their children had their movement tainted…again, by outsiders and troublemakers. I put out multiple warnings during the day, If you cause trouble, we lose the argument. Now the headlines will scream “riot,” and “far right” not “protect the children.” And that’s exactly what the media and the establishment wants.

Many want the peaceful gatherers to look like the villains. They want the average mum and dad to shut up, sit down and accept it. Accept that their child’s school will be next to a hotel housing unvetted, unmonitored adult males. Accept that being concerned makes you a “bigot.”

Well, no. Not here, not in Epping.

This hotel is now a risk to both local residents and those inside it. It’s a powder keg. It needs to be shut down, not tomorrow, not next month…today. Public safety must come first.

To the parents and grandparents who came in peace, I salute you, your message matters. Don’t let the media spin and bury it. The safety of our children is not negotiable, not now, not ever.

Adam Brooks ✍🏽