The leader of a British association was detained this week on allegations of harassment for hanging national flags in public against the local council’s orders.
Ryan Bridge, the founder of the U.K.-based group Raise the Colours, was arrested on Tuesday by Thames Valley police “on suspicion of causing racially and religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress” due to his campaign flying Union Jacks and St. George’s flags in Oxfordshire.
The incident followed Oxfordshire City Council issuing a formal statement ordering Bridge and his group to cease “their continued placing of flags across Oxfordshire.”
“If the group does not comply with the letter, the council will consider all available options to include, but not limited to, civil and criminal proceedings against the organisation and individuals affiliated with it to prevent further unauthorized action,” the council warned on Monday.
Raise the Colours is a U.K.-based organization known for erecting Union Jacks and St. George flags in public spaces across the country. The group describes itself as a “grassroots movement for unity and patriotism” and voices strong opposition to mass migration into the U.K.
The group has come under scrutiny for its social media activities and vigilantism. Ten members of the group were banned from France for shouting down and physically confronting migrants attempting to sail from the north of the country to the U.K.
“You’re not welcome in our country,” Bridge warned illegal migrants in a video he posted to social media, calling them “potential rapists, murderers, and child abusers.”
Approximately 4,441 illegal migrants arrived in the U.K. by small boat across the English Channel between Jan. 1 and Mar. 26.
Raise the Colours shared videos of Bridge’s arrest on social media this week, calling Thames Valley Police “ought to be ashamed of themselves.”
Council leader Liz Leffman said Oxfordshire officials “proudly fly the Union and St George’s flags” as “visible symbols of democracy and unity,” but that Bridge’s flag campaign is “not a sign of patriotism.”
“It is an act of intimidation and division that is having a real and damaging impact on our communities,” she asserted. “The scale and persistence of this activity is affecting communities across Oxfordshire. We’re proud of our diverse communities in Oxfordshire and of being the first county council to be awarded Local Authority of Sanctuary status.”
Bridge posted a video of himself to Facebook following his release on bail, saying the “world has gone mad” and urging his followers to “march on” and “fight on.”
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The public display of Union Jacks and St. George’s flags — spearheaded by Raise the Colours — has become the subject of a national debate in the United Kingdom.
Over a hundred residents of a Birmingham suburb came together in February for a “de-flagging celebration” that took down hundreds of flags hung by Bridge’s group on lamp posts and other public spaces.