A man has been reported for an alleged hate crime offence as an extreme far-right group clashed with dozens of campaigners after hijacking a community protest over asylum seekers being housed at a Scots hotel.
Another man was also arrested for breaching bail conditions as members of racist Patriotic Alternative staged a demonstration outside the Muthu Glasgow River Hotel in Erskine, on Sunday afternoon, where 170 men aged between 18 and 40 - are being given a temporary home.
The rally had originally been organised by locals from the Erskine Against Asylum Hotel group before members decided to boycott it.
Police Scotland confirmed that action had been taken against two men at the protest. A spokesperson said of the event: "One man [was] arrested for breaching bail conditions and one man [was] reported to the Procurator Fiscal for a hate crime offence."
Patriotic Alternative Scotland, led by Kenny Smith, a former BNP election candidate, unfurled banners which read "Scotland for Scots" and erected a podium to speak to the crowd.
They were met by 100 campaigners from Stand up to Racism who chanted "Nazi scum off our streets" and "refugees are welcome here".
A heavy policing operation was drafted in for the protest, with officers forming a line between the two parties.
Commenting on the intrusion, local resident, Colin Mack, told the Record: "The residents were going to campaign about not being consulted on the people entering our community.
"The protest was hijacked by PA who have taken over. I've lived here for years, this is not what we as a community are about.
"I am horrified that they think they can come here and try to twist the resident's minds and agenda."
At the protest, Smith denied hijacking the local campaign.
He said: “It’s absolute baffle, I have not hi-jacked this campaign.
“I have family here and I am here to support members of the community who have told us they are intimidated by the media and the groups on the opposite side of the road."
Earlier this week the Record revealed the racist Patriotic Alternative group was spreading its vile anti-immigration views in a Facebook group set up by residents of Erskine.
The Erskine Against Asylum Hotel group was created on Facebook last Thursday after male asylum seekers, the majority of whom arrived from the Middle East, without community consultation. The hotel is being managed by the Mears Group on behalf of the Home Office.
And on Monday night, Smith addressed the 600 members in the group ahead of the rally.
He wrote: “We have had success in Yorkshire and Wales already preventing the swamping of vulnerable communities with hundreds of young migrant men.
“The world is a better place for the diversity of identity, culture and heritage, but we are being swamped and over run."
Patriotic Alternative is regarded as the UK’s most active fascist group, binding a ragbag of Nazi extremists, bigots from anti-immigration Scottish Defence League and a new cohort of anti-vaxxers.
Locals were today urged not to cooperate with Patriotic Alternative amid fears legitimate concerns would be undermined by links to the extremist group.
Local SNP MP Gavin Newlands said: "While I completely understand some of the concerns being raised around the pressure on local public services and the specific cohort of planned guests, I equally want to be clear - vile comments from racist right-wing neo-fascists have been utterly disgusting and have helped stoke what is clearly a difficult and sensitive situation.
"I urge all locals to please stay away from their protest. Being associated with these fascists will only serve to undermine any legitimate concerns they have."
Jim Monaghan, Stand Up to Racism representative, said: "It's disgusting. I don't think the locals here understand the dynamic of what is being put on them by the PA group.
"Members of this group are opportunists and they will have come from all over Scotland to exploit this situation."
The Daily Record approached Mears Group for comment.
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