Sixteen years ago, Charlie Veitch stood on pavements offering hugs, hope and a homemade philosophy of freedom. Today, he marches through Manchester flanked by bodyguards, a camera pointed at the city’s most vulnerable. James Holt reports.
09:40, 27 Nov 2025Updated 15:11, 28 Nov 2025
“You are all free! You don’t need permission to be happy!”(Image: Marianna Longo)
It’s 2009 and Charlie Veitch is talking about the truth.
“What’s important in life is truth”, he says. “And truth to me equals freedom. If you know the truth about yourself, then nobody can really hurt you. Nobody can take that away from you.”
Over the last 16 years Veitch has been on a significant philosophical journey. In the grainy home video at the end of the first decade of the new millennium he was explaining why he makes his content. He talks about his ‘duty’ to ‘make a difference in the world’ and continue with his ‘spiritual’ work.
At that point the YouTuber was growing an online following through his public activism on the streets of London. Fundamentally, it all started out as a message of hope.
It was a time when Veitch would hug strangers and bellow into a megaphone.
He may have occasionally wrestled his way into the headlines, including being arrested for a planned demonstration at the Royal Wedding, but his message was often humorous, sometimes generous – and rarely offensive. It resonated deeply with those who watched it.
His aim, he says, was to encourage people to question the world around them. To think about inequality and areas where their life felt unjust. To help pull themselves up out of challenging times.
“The truth is, we live in a world where energy can never escape”(Image: Marianna Longo)
“I wanted to express my views about what I think the reality is that we live in and what we can do, if anything,” he says in that early video.
“People feel discouraged or downtrodden, and that maybe we’re losing this and that the world is going back towards another fascist, controlled world where the common man is beaten down and rich people prevail while good men die like dogs.
“The truth is, we live in a world where energy can never escape. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
“It falls into my logic to know that whenever things get really bad, it allows the opportunity for the really good to match it. It allows the opportunity for the most glorious freedom to rear its head amongst the swamps of inequality, swamps of evil.”
“No matter how far down the rabbit hole you go or how shallow you live your life, there will always be an opportunity for you to do good. To live your life with honour and do the best day by day,” he explains.
‘Welcome to Manchester guys’.
Fast forward to 2025 and Veitch is in his regular haunt – Piccadilly Gardens.
“I hope I captured that tackle. That was quite an effective tackle,” he can be heard to say in a video posted to his YouTube channel.
Entitled: ‘Theatre: Extremely bad things happen in Piccadilly Gardens’, it appears to show a man being pulled to the ground by a police officer as Veitch films and encourages onlookers to pose beside the police van.
What begins as a routine arrest quickly turns into a spectacle – now viewed more than 600,000 times.
When a passer-by tells Veitch someone has been stabbed and an air ambulance lands, he can be heard to say: “Someone’s been stabbed? Welcome to Manchester guys”.
He turns his camera on the suspect in the van, asking: “Is this the stabbing suspect?” The man pleads with police to move Veitch away. The arresting officer refers to the YouTuber by his first name.
Everyone around here knows Charlie.
Exploitation and confrontation.
These days Veitch regularly roams northern towns and cities, camera in hand, filming confrontations later uploaded to his page under provocative titles. His prolific YouTube output captures some of the most difficult moments for Manchester’s most vulnerable people.
They are asylum seekers, rough sleepers, people trapped in the grip of addiction.
The videos show rough sleepers being filmed in close-up without consent while terms like “crackhead’ pepper the content. Other output depicts protesters being goaded.
Veitch can be heard branding migrants as “rapists, illegals and people who want to wreck the culture”.
Videos show him zooming in on individuals to critique their appearance. He does all this while flanked, these days, by personal security guards.
‘Crackhead capital of the world’.
In one video entitled: ‘Very Big Trouble in Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester’, Veitch walks through what he has dubbed “Crackhead Gardens.”
“Give it a moment until the crackheads see me,” he says. He films a woman, calling her a “high quality female,” and confronts a homeless man, saying: “We all know it’s for drugs. Don’t bother with the lies and bulls***.”
“Not only the city that never sleeps, it’s also the crackhead capital of the world,” Veitch says.
In another video ‘The Bodyguard Defeats the Balaclava Boy Menace’, he can be heard describing two women in burkas as being “dressed like medieval executioners”.
Another clip, titled ‘Slap & Kick Man’, shows a man in a balaclava approaching Veitch and asking him to “delete the video from before”. Veitch’s security guard can be seen slapping the man to the side of the face and kicking him in the stomach before running off.
“Thank you Fred for saving me there, he came for you with a knife in his pocket. Good on you,” Veitch can be heard saying.
Veitch’s content has been viewed millions of times. He has 815,000 subscribers and his videos attract thousands of comments from viewers who post encouragement such as: “Keep up the great work Charlie” and: “This is the video of the year!”
These days, Veitch says he aims to “expose darkness and tell the truth”. But his critics say he is profiteering from the exploitation of vulnerable people.
‘Humiliation isn’t awareness’.
“Piccadilly Gardens has become a stage for exploitation. People battling addiction, homelessness, or mental health issues are baited until they react. Then their worst moments are uploaded for profit,” says YouTuber Marty Hardy.
He makes his money in the same trade as Veitch, but the content on his I.E Media YouTube channel is vastly different.
“Humiliation isn’t ‘awareness’; it deepens shame and pushes people further into crisis,” Marty says. “What it needs is proper intervention, not provocation.”
Marty believes Veitch’s videos “lift headlines, reframe incidents and turn sensitive issues into theatre”.
“There’s usually a grain of truth, but it’s buried under exaggeration and spin. It’s a performance that shapes real opinions with distorted narratives,” he says.
Marty argues that Veitch’s videos often show snippets of “drama” instead of the “full picture”. He says just because filming in a public place is legal, it “shouldn’t be seen as a free pass”.
Veitch is not the only content creator to focus attention on Piccadilly Gardens but he is without a doubt the best known.(Image: Marianna Longo)
“I’ve spoken to visitors who say they’re too scared to go near Piccadilly Gardens because of what they’ve seen online – and that’s just not the reality,” he says.
“It also raises serious safeguarding concerns. Some of these people have been moved to new areas for their own safety, yet they’re being exposed online without consent.
“Families could stumble across those videos and see a loved one at their lowest point, and in some cases, children could end up seeing a parent who’s fallen on hard times. The damage that can do mentally is huge. A public place shouldn’t be seen as a free pass.
“It’s happening daily and it’s monetised. But the law shouldn’t even have to spell it out. Just because you can film someone doesn’t mean you should.”
Veitch is not the only content creator to focus attention on Piccadilly Gardens and Manchester city centre, but he is without a doubt the best known.
Marty says his actions “taint” everyone with a camera.
“Genuine vloggers and documentary makers get side-eyed because people assume we’re there to provoke. It’s shrinking public trust and making street filming harder for decent creators,” he says.
“People need to think, use common sense, and realise a lot of people are just scared, stuck in an algorithm that only shows one side of the story, and unsure where this is all heading.
“Others copy it, tensions rise, and we’ve already seen viral clips where that so-called protection ends up in violent situations.
“When they turn up with multiple guards, their confidence shoots up, and so does the chance of a clash. That’s not journalism; it’s intimidation, and it’s only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt.
“It’s basic human decency: if someone says they don’t want to be filmed, step back and move on. Most confrontations would vanish with a bit of respect and common sense. It’s not ‘never film’; it’s knowing when to stop.”
“I want people to ask why is this popping up?”
Other detractors claim Veitch creates a false perception of Manchester – portraying it as a gloomy landscape in the grip of conflict and chaos.
Local leaders have aired concern about the actions of Veitch and other YouTube content creators. Mayor Andy Burnham was recently asked about YouTubers like Veitch during his BBC Hotseat phone-in.
“It’s not that there are not social problems and crime-related issues, there are,” he said. “But the regular videos…I want people to ask why is this popping up?
“They are promoting a negative image of the city and they are doing it for political reasons. We do not need agent provocateurs.”
And at a recent panel about safety in the city, the mayor said the modern phenomenon ‘needs to be challenged’.
“Why is there this impression [of Manchester]? We have a modern phenomenon going on in the city which we need to start challenging more directly,” he said.
“It’s people who call themselves citizen journalists, auditors, and they are out there on our streets behaving provocatively in terms of how they go about things, creating content which they sell for a large return.”
Burnham has urged members of the public not to engage with content creators and says their purpose is to ‘generate social media content and portray a misleading picture of our city region’.
Council leaders say the trend of YouTubers allegedly exploiting vulnerable adults is ‘concerning’ and said the online content ‘only serves to exaggerate and distort perceptions’.
How it started…
Veitch was born to a Brazilian father and Scottish mother and was educated at the University of Edinburgh. In a 2014 documentary with Mohnish Patel, he described his upbringing as “safely middle class” providing a “very happy childhood”.
He studied business and finance but switched degrees to philosophy – later working in finance before being made redundant and becoming a self-proclaimed anarchist with a camera in hand.
Early in his career, he stirred up controversy by claiming that the 9/11 terror attacks were faked by the US government. He later confessed he no longer held that belief.
Today his bread and butter comes from documenting various town and city centre confrontations. But 15 years ago, his content was starkly different. With a multicoloured peace flag flying in the wind behind him, Veitch shouts into a megaphone.
“Ladies and gentleman, I am speaking here today, not because I am anyone special,” he bellows to the streets of London.
“I am speaking here today [because] there comes a time when an individual man can not stay silent any longer, when he sees injustice in the world around him.”
It’s 2010. The YouTuber is raising awareness about the Gaza war.
Veitch’s mission at this stage in his career is activism. He appears keen to highlight social injustice. As such, The Love Police movement was born.
Part performance group, part social experiment, the movement aimed to use humour, love and “hugs” as part of a peaceful and creative protest to challenge authority and encourage members of the public to think for themselves.
Veitch gained mass attention, admitting the movement “made people stop and think” in a world where there were “lots of lies being told”.
Discussing people’s negative reactions to him in the short form BBC documentary ‘The Man with the Megaphone’, Veitch says his ‘confidence’ and determination to ‘do what he thinks is right’ has always offended his critics.
“How miserable are their lives that they’re trying to hurt a guy who, at the end of the day, what do I do? I have no political power. I just go out with a megaphone, I go out filming.”
Veitch used megaphones, signs and peaceful public performances to divert people from what he saw as fear-based control systems by the police, media and government. He had regular run-ins with police officers who saw his work as a disruption.
And he would deliver messages through a megaphone with sentiments like: “You are all free! You don’t need permission to be happy!”
Back then, his content was more overtly philosophical and idealistic.
…how it’s going
Today, Veitch’s content divides opinion more than ever. It focuses on street-drama with a more confrontational and antagonistic tone. Filming in UK cities – particularly in his adopted home of Manchester – he tours public spaces, camera in hand, while narrating. His following has steadily ballooned now with more than 800,000 loyal fans eagerly watching his every move.
His messages of hope and positivity have been subsumed by a new style of content. One which courts controversy as Veitch battles for views in a crowded streaming market.
“This behaviour is disruptive, it causes distress and poses a risk to people’s safety.”(Image: Marianna Longo)
“Back then, he had a message, questioning authority, offering free hugs, spreading a bit of joy, and getting people to think,” Marty Hardy says. “Now it’s all about confrontation and clicks.
“It’s gone from light-hearted activism to a kind of psychological spectacle, where viewers get a buzz from seeing people belittled, abused, and exploited. That’s not entertainment.”
Marty claims that by painting migrants as “threats” and homeless people as “crackheads”, Veitch is inflaming already tense situations.
“The comments say it all. Towards homeless people and those struggling with addiction, it’s stuff like ‘crackies’ or just outright calling them ‘scum.’” he says.
“And on the protest videos, it’s the same tone with people being called ‘traitors,’ ‘groomers,’ or ‘terrorist sympathisers.’ That kind of language strips people of their humanity and fuels division.”
One recent upload focuses on protests outside migrant hotels and in Manchester city centre.
In ‘Bodyguards Ambushed: Pigeon-Nose and Ponytail Islamocommies’, protestors can be seen chanting “Nazi scum” as Veitch calls Stand Up To Racism a “lefty organisation” defending “criminal migrants.”
Outside a hotel in Oldham housing asylum seekers, he claims: “The lefties with their red flags are here to say ‘f you English people – we’ll bring in as many rapists, illegals and people who want to wreck the culture as they can.”
He is then seen approaching the group directly and edging closer, shouting “good morning lefties” – before proceeding to push them back.
He can be seen directly aiming his camera, along with another YouTuber Billy Moore, and a pro-immigration protestor, and heard saying: “be careful, she’s angry”.
The monetisation of misery.
Andy Burnham says he has serious concerns about content curators who make money by exploiting the region’s most vulnerable. When contacted by the M.E.N about Veitch, he said YouTubers can be ‘disruptive’ and ‘cause distress’ in the city region and beyond.
A spokesperson for the Mayor of Greater Manchester said: “Sadly, there are individuals in Greater Manchester going out of their way to film and deliberately provoke people in order to generate social media content and portray a misleading picture of our city region.
“This behaviour is disruptive, it causes distress and poses a risk to people’s safety.
“Greater Manchester Police is aware of this phenomenon and will work with partners to address these issues, and they have the full support of the Mayor.
“We would encourage everyone to follow their advice, and not to engage with this kind of behaviour when they see it.” But the mayor will have a hard time convincing Veitch’s most loyal fans.
A spectacle of ‘bigoted harassment’.
For anti-racist campaigning group Hope Not Hate, the biggest concern with Veitch’s content is that they “dehumanise” the subjects.
One representative of the group – who asked not to be named – claims Veitch shares “bigoted misinformation”, harasses counter protesters and allows his bodyguard to physically assault members of the public.
“He engages in the maximum level of provocation,” she says. “He antagonises others with juvenile insults, while his bodyguard’s presence allows him to speak without fear.
“The prank-like and antagonistic nature of Veitch’s content might call into question the sincerity of his views.
“Whether his views are genuine makes no difference to those he harasses, or the thousands of people who watch his videos.
“Veitch and YouTubers like him make a spectacle of bigoted harassment. He is able to create dramatic content which dehumanises those he targets.
“The people in his videos become fodder for views, with little regard for the real-world impact of normalising street harassment.”
Jamie Lilley, Founder of Manchester-based charity Cold Hands Warm Hearts, an outreach group providing food, clothing, and essential items to the homeless community in the city, said videos like those posted by Veitch ‘provoke people to portray them negatively’.
“On several occasions, when we’ve attempted to assist homeless individuals, they have expressed significant agitation and anger. Upon speaking with them, they often recount experiences where someone recorded them provocatively and intrusively”, he said.
“To be frank, individuals experiencing homelessness are extremely vulnerable and already face numerous challenges in their lives. They certainly don’t need someone with a camera provoking them to portray them negatively.
“We’ve even witnessed women break down in tears, expressing, “This is not the life I’ve chosen. What gives them the right to film me?” It’s crucial for people to recognize that we are all human. “
Trouble often follows.
This poses a conundrum for local leaders in the cities targeted by Veitch.
If they condemn his content as inflammatory, they risk drawing it to the attention of people who didn’t even realise he existed.
For Manchester Council, one of the most galling aspects of his output is what they see as the misrepresentation of the city.
A Manchester City Council spokesperson told us: “The trend of some YouTubers – both those with large followings and would-be imitators – generating content by filming vulnerable adults such as people experiencing homelessness, and sometimes provoking situations, is a concerning one.
“We know that many of the voluntary and community sector organisations working to support vulnerable people share this concern.
“While there are of course real social issues here which we and partners are working to address, such online content is not constructive and only serves to exaggerate and distort perceptions.”
But Veitch’s content does shape perceptions of Manchester – particularly in areas like Piccadilly Gardens.
Veitch’s content is watched by over 800,000 subscribers(Image: Marianna Longo)
And his methods attract a lot of hostility. Passers-by or counter-protesters regularly clash with him. Where Veitch goes, trouble often follows.
He now appears to employ personal bodyguards to protect him during confrontations.
In his video ‘Scum Wars: The Crackhead Menace ft. Elbow Man’, Veitch says, “As the threat level has increased, so has my protection.
“To anyone who wishes to do us harm, I don’t think you should try.”
In other videos, Veitch refers to pro-Palestine protestors as “the crazy people,” calling them “scumbags” who “support Hamas.”
Picking up a “Trans rights” leaflet, he mocks, “ladies with c*** and balls,” and when accused of being “homophobic, transphobic and racist,” he replies:
“I’ll be transphobic, but I ain’t no homophobe.”
Walking through Manchester’s Gay Village, he describes the Pride bunting as “propaganda flags” and adds: “I’ve got a lot of gay viewers… conservative gays and even the lefty gays.
“Thank you very much for your support, and we will stand alongside you – not directly in front of you, no homo – against the cult that is trying to say some people are in the wrong body.”
In the Northern Quarter, Veitch tells his bodyguards to “reverse,” later claiming they were assaulted. Footage appears to show one of his team pulling a protestor’s hair, sparking a wider scuffle.
Videos show Veitch talking to those sleeping rough, interacting with fans and the regular confrontations with angry street locals or protestors who vehemently oppose his views.
In ‘Picc Gardens Crackies’, he mocks a man’s voice and tells another he “needs a dentist,” prompting the man to throw a beer can. Veitch calls him a “disgusting pig.”
In ‘Feral Urban Balaclava Runts: The Ongoing Stabby Menace’, Veitch zooms in on a young man, calling him a “stabbo illegal migrant.” Approaching him, he says: “I hope England has been good to you guys. I hope you got your £50 HMV voucher, your free phone and all the good stuff.”
Many of those who have entered the UK will have fled war or persecution in their home country. Every individual life story is different, and where we are born is pot luck.
But this is the same Veitch who once claimed his determination to offer a glimmer of hope for those battling ‘inequality and evil’.
In ‘Keep The Pressure On The Migrant Hotels’, Veitch claims “s***hole countries” are “emptying prisons, putting them on a boat and saying ‘you’re going to go live a new life in England, Mr Rapey boy, Mr Murder boy’.”
And in ‘Not Today: Mass Arrests & Antifa Ambush’ – which has been viewed more than 1.5m times – Veitch asks: “How does a toddler decide it wants to take gender bending chemicals and sterilise itself?”
Gender-affirming surgery is not available to those under 18 and cross-sex hormones can only be prescribed to those aged 16 and over under specific guidelines.
A growing trend.
YouTubers like Veitch also pose problems for Greater Manchester Police. They say “provoking incidents” can make things much harder for officers.
Assistant Chief Constable Chris Sykes says: “We’re aware of the growing trend in our city-region of people provoking incidents which they can film and upload online for their own personal gain. These incidents often involve our own officers and make some really challenging scenarios even more complex.
“Where we can, we look to work with partners to address these behaviours that can cause disruption or distress for the public. Of course, we operate within the law as it stands, and our powers are limited where no crime is committed.
“Our focus remains on proactive, community-led policing where local neighbourhood teams are engaging with residents and partners to tackle the issues that matter most to our communities.
“We aim to reduce the types of incidents that attract unwanted attention and ensure Greater Manchester is a safe, welcoming place for all who live, visit, and work in our city-region.”
A strange journey.
Back in Piccadilly Gardens, there are scenes of chaos.
A man has been stabbed. Another is running across the busy city centre park being chased by police officers. An air ambulance is circling overhead, bringing with it destructive winds.
And at the centre of it all, camera tightly gripped, is Veitch.
Passers-by are calling his name or giving him a thumbs up. A group of teenage boys in balaclavas, unphased by the man being tackled to the ground in front of them, recognise Veitch instantly and want to be in on all the action. A suspect, sitting in the back of a van, is probed with a lens.
For Veitch, it’s just another viral hit. It’s a chance to be front and centre of unfolding chaos. A snippet of one of Manchester city centre’s busiest areas. It’s a stark contrast from the positivity and activism some 16 years ago.
Back then viewers commented thanking him for his messages. One said his work helped them with their depression. Another commented that Veitch had ‘made them cry’ with the ‘heartfelt’ content. Another added: “We definitely as humans need more messages like this from people with a big followings like you do.”
A comment under the ‘Why I Make Videos’ post states: “Thank you Charlie, peaceful warrior for freedom of the mind (soul) Wonderful realization that we are eternal spiritual beings”.
Another comment, which demonstrates that YouTube’s algorithm is still serving the video up now, was posted just last week and serves as a stark illustration of Veitch’s strange journey: “With age comes clarity. Charles is calling out the bulls*it now, instead of just pondering it.”
Veitch’s motivations these days aren’t as clear as when he started out, and when we asked him about them he didn’t want to be part of this story – but wished us luck with it.
Back in Piccadilly Gardens amid the swirling storm of a culture war, rhetoric and provocation, Charlie Veitch stands watching, talking, arguing and, as always, filming.