Far-right activist Daniel Thomas slashes migrant dinghy in Channel, sparking arrests
Danny Tommo tracked asylum-seeker boats and stabbed one with a rescue worker aboard as followers protested onshore in Gosport.
What to know
- Daniel Thomas, a far-right activist with a knife-crime conviction, filmed himself stabbing an asylum seekers' dinghy in the Channel while a rescue worker was standing inside it, livestreamed to 100,000 viewers.
- Hundreds of his followers protested in Gosport to block the boats' arrival, but Border Force diverted the vessels to Dover instead.
- Hampshire police arrested six people for offences including assaulting an emergency worker and aggravated trespass, and are investigating the slashing incident.
- The rescued asylum seekers had reportedly spent 36 hours at sea, the longest recorded Channel crossing time, with RNLI warning of a possible catastrophic dinghy failure.
“determined to take all risks to reach the United Kingdom”
French coastguard, Maritime authority · The Guardian ↗ · Sep 21
Daniel Thomas Far-right activist ("Danny Tommo")Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary Police forceJoint Council for Welfare of Immigrants Refugee charityStand Up to Racism Anti-racism campaign groupRNLI Rescue charity
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts
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Border Force diverts asylum seekers to Dover instead of Gosport — Rather than landing at the expected Gosport site, Border Force vessels carrying the rescued asylum seekers were instead taken to Dover in the early hours of Wednesday.
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Charities condemn Thomas's knife attack on the dinghy
The Joint Council for Welfare of Immigrants called the action violent and dangerous, and Stand Up to Racism denounced Thomas's history and conduct on social media.
“Danny Tommo already has a conviction for knife crime. The footage of him going wild with a knife and slashing a boat with [an emergency worker] on it in the Channel today is disgusting.”
— Stand Up to Racism -
first by Guardian, 1d ago · also The Guardian
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I'm not a lawyer, but if you intentionally attempt to sink a boat with humans on board, how is that not attempted murder?
2 more of the top 3 · 264 posts in this stretch
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Pretty sure that slashing a dinghy with a knife while there is an emergency worker on board is illegal. I do hope Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary take this seriously. https://www. theguardian.com/world/2026/sep /22/far-right-activist-daniel-thomas-slashes-dinghy-with-blade-while-rescue-worker-onboard
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Possession of an offensive weapon, reckless endangerment, criminal damage ... Let's hope the police take this seriously.
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Hampshire police make six arrests amid the protest — Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said it was investigating the boat-slashing incident and confirmed six arrests for offences including assaulting an emergency worker and aggravated trespass, with all six in custody Tuesday night.
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Hundreds of Thomas's followers protest in Gosport — Followers of Thomas's Patriot Platform umbrella movement gathered in Gosport and near the unopened Haslar immigration removal centre to try to disrupt disembarkation, prompting a heavy police presence.
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Thomas stabs and slashes dinghy with rescue worker aboard — Livestreamed to 100,000 viewers, Thomas stabbed a knife into the inflatable dinghy several times while a rescue worker in hi-vis gear was standing inside it, then told the worker to get off before motoring away.
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Daniel Thomas tracks Channel dinghies from a small boat — Thomas, filming himself, followed two dinghies carrying asylum seekers from France, approaching one and shouting for it to be destroyed as rescue workers helped passengers onto a larger boat.
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
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first by BBC, 20h ago · also London Evening Standard, Evening Standard
2 more headlines
- Police examining video of anti-migrant activist slashing boat with knife BBC · 20h ago
- Anti-migrant activist Danny Tommo films himself slashing dinghy in the Channel London Evening Standard · 19h ago
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first by lbc.co.uk, 19h ago · also Evening Standard
1 more headline
- Police investigating footage of far-right activist appearing to slash dinghy Evening Standard · 17h ago
What people are saying 21 voices from 2 sites · best of 264 · verbatim
- Today
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It's all right, every body. Calm down. He wasn't holding a handwritten cardboard placard saying 'I support # PalestineAction ', so we can't arrest him. # Racism # Nazis https://www. theguardian.com/world/2026/sep /22/far-right-activist-daniel-thomas-slashes-dinghy-with-blade-while-rescue-worker-onboard
- Yesterday
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Might this be the crime of attempted murder? https://www. theguardian.com/world/2026/sep /22/far-right-activist-daniel-thomas-slashes-dinghy-with-blade-while-rescue-worker-onboard
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# BBC # News Police examine video of anti-migrant activist slashing dinghy with knife
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He may have tried to murder someone but at least he didn’t disparage Israel.
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Holding up a placard in support of Palestine Action is "terrorism," but destroying boats used to save lives at sea isn't terrorism. Britain is irredeemably fucked.
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I'd have expected endangering lives at sea to be a criminal act. I hope this apology for a human being suffers the full effects of the law. "Thomas filmed himself stabbing a knife into the inflatable dinghy several times and slashing its side. The noise of escaping air was audible, and Thomas shouted: “This is England. This is not France any…
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Why is this man not being charged with endangering life at sea? # Racism # Fascism https://www. theguardian.com/world/2026/sep /22/far-right-activist-daniel-thomas-slashes-dinghy-with-blade-while-rescue-worker-onboard
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If you attempt to sink a boat with humans on board to make a racist political statement, how is that not terrorism?
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The purpose of all of these stunts is to raise the individual's profile with the aim of attracting financial donations. Monetising hate and division is a viable business model from which many prominent far-right figures are now doing very nicely.
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Meanwhile @theguardian.com are calling him an “activist”. So carrying an illegal knife, and hunting migrants is now “activism”.
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Why is this thuggery ignored by the authorities but grannies holding signs are arrested on terrorism charges & people are in prison for phone calls about climate action?
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Compare and contrast with the consequences of the just stop oil protesters and Palestine action. The bizzies are complicit
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I wish the media would stop using the term "activist" or "campaigner" for these people. It almost gives them an air of legitimacy. I can think of a few words ending in "ist" that would be much more suitable and accurate. And since when have Christians campaigned to sink boats and drown people?
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Let's swap "far-right activist" for "racist terrorist", yeah?
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Do we still have a home secretary? Has anyone heard from her recently or does she only speak up against immigrants and people holding placards?
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A new low for these nasty attention-seeking pricks
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Please don’t tell me that this is still a demonstration of “legitimate concerns”
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That looks to be a far right fascist terrorist in the act of terrorising people Let’s see how far the UK has fallen down the far right facist hole
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Disgraceful article. Not one mention of the disgusting acts by the knife wielding thug.
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He also has a previous knife crime conviction. Legally, he should be getting a 6 month mandatory minimum just for having the knife in public.
- Sep 22
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So MI5 is powerless to stop this, unlike a protest in the name of humanity. Danny Tommo outwitting our finest spooks, I bet they're not even reading his emails. See how many dawn swoops Palestine Action get for planning a protest at the Labour Conference next week... https://www. theguardian.com/world/2026/sep…