The arrests came after protests were held on the northern French coast and Dover by an associate of Tommy Robinson
Two Britons have been arrested by French police in Calais suspected of being part of a “far right” group planning to physically stop migrants crossing the Channel by small boat.
The pair were detained on Sunday after allegedly sharing “discriminatory remarks” in a livestream video, suggesting they were part of a group of anti-migrant protesters recently banned from the country for a plot they had dubbed “Operation Overlord”, French authorities said.
The men will be deported back to the UK “based on the threat to public order”, the Pas-de-Calais prefecture said in a statement.
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French police have not revealed the identities of those who have been arrested.
Last week, France imposed a ban on anyone arriving from the UK to take part in planned anti-migrant demonstrations after calls were made on social media to carry out a protest over the weekend.
The ban, which prohibits gathering between Calais and Dunkirk, has now been extended until Wednesday, with anyone found in breach of the order at risk of arrest and deportation.
It comes after The i Paper first revealed last year that a plot was being hatched by British vigilantes, who had already filmed themselves slashing migrant boats in France, to recruit other anti-migration activists to help carry out and document a trip to the French coastline under the banner of “Operation Overlord”.
This weekend, a small group of British men filmed themselves as they travelled to France with leading anti-migrant vigilante and former bodyguard of Tommy Robinson, Daniel Thomas, who describes himself as a “right-wing patriot”.
Thomas, formerly associated with flag-raising group called Raise the Colours, gained traction online by filming himself approaching migrants on Calais beaches and slashing the small boats they use to cross the Channel.
A screenshot of Danny Thomas, front, with a gaggle of anti-migrant activists this weekend (Photo: Daniel Thomas)
The real Operation Overlord – the Allies’ invasion of occupied Europe during the Second World War, beginning on D-Day, 1944 – was considered a complete success and was planned in absolute secrecy.
But last week Thomas, who refers to himself as Danny Tommo, was forced out of the Raise the Colours group and retaining the “Operation Overlord” title, continued to plan a protest in France on his own – despite the ban being issued.
Video from Dover shows a small group waved flags and shouted at staff at the port on Saturday (Photo: South East Patriots)
Videos that Thomas streamed live on Saturday show that he and around a dozen men journeyed to France, while approximately 30 to 50 supporters formed a small crowd at the port in Dover.
“It was a raving success,” one of the men who turned up in Dover said in a separate livestream video. “It wasn’t a massive group of people there but the job got done.”
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