South Yorkshire Police has defended its response to an early morning march by anti-illegal immigration protesters in Sheffield.
Dozens of people clad in black clothing, many of whom were masked, held banners as they walked along Staniforth Road in Darnall on Sunday from 05:30 BST before being dispersed by police.
At a public meeting on Monday in response to the march, local residents criticised the police response, with Fran Belbin, Sheffield City Council’s leader, saying people were “quite angry”.
Supt Martin Simcock told the meeting the force was “not aware of the planned activity – we hadn’t got any information – so there was not an ability to plan or understand what was going to happen”.
Police confirmed the protest was organised by Patriot Platform, an anti-illegal immigration group set up by Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, who is an associate of Tommy Robinson – real name Stephen Yaxley Lennon.
The group also blockaded the Port of Dover last month.
Thomas is due to go on trial in 2027 to face a charge of criminal damage after a video appeared to show him slashing at a dinghy that had an emergency responder on board in the English Channel.
Organisers of Patriot Platform have previously said they were building a working class “voting bloc” to persuade political parties on the right to adopt their agenda.
A Sheffield group seemingly allied to the wider Patriot Platform group declined to comment on Sunday’s protest when approached by the BBC.
South Yorkshire Police previously confirmed that after the group ended the protest, there had been a report of graffiti but no arrests had been made.
