Far-Right Austrian Activist and His American Girlfriend Deported from Britain over Plans to Speak in Hyde Park
Nic White and Tim Stickings, Daily Mail, March 12, 2018
Two far-right figures say they have been deported from Britain after being detained when trying to enter the country.
Austrian Martin Sellner of the Generation Identity group and American commentator Brittany Pettibone tweeted Monday that they were denied entry into Britain.
Sellner said in a video posted on Twitter they were detained for three days and then deported.
Sellner said on the video that both of them were handcuffed. He said he planned to give a speech at Speakers’ Corner in London’s Hyde Park — ‘that was my crime.’
Pettibone said that she was denied entry because she planned to interview far-right leader Tommy Robinson.
She said from Austria: ‘It felt like they were saying,”you’re right-wing, that’s not allowed”.’
Their entry was supposedly denied a day after his group claimed he and Pettibone were detained at the border and then turned away.
The Home Office said the department would not comment on whether Mr Sellner or his girlfriend had been detained, the Evening Standard reported on Sunday.
British officials didn’t immediately confirm the deportations on Monday either.
Demonstrators took to Hyde Park after Sellner said he was planning to speak there on Sunday.
Mr Sellner said that ‘security risks’ and ‘left wing threats’ forced him to cancel an earlier planned event with UKIP’s youth wing Young Independence.
Pictures on Sunday showed demonstrators turning out on both sides as supporters of Mr Sellner clashed with anti-fascist protesters.
‘This massive immigration is changing the face of our streets, of our cities, and soon the people who have been living here for thousands of years will be an endangered minority,’ Sellner said last year.
He tweeted last Tuesday: ‘My speech for the Young Independence conference was cancelled for the 2nd time, due to security risks caused by left wing threats.”
