On October 10, three far right individuals attended a student pro-Palestine protest. A Nouse investigation into the events of the day has uncovered evidence of verbal and physical abuse and failures of Campus Safety to protect protestors.
The protest, attended by staff and students along with members of the public, involved Palestine Solidarity Society, the York Encampment Collective, and York Action for Student-Staff Solidarity, among other student groups. Nouse has spoken to three protestors who interacted with the individuals, on condition of anonymity.
Two of the individuals arrived around 10:30 am on electric bikes, approaching protestors gathered around the gates to Heslington Hall, the building containing the University’s administrative offices. Both were dressed in black and carrying go-pros and chest-mounted cameras.
They first set about filming protestors. Within minutes, one individual had knocked a flagpole out of a protestors’ hands, which snapped. Another student was shoved backwards. The two men then set about shouting and jeering at protestors. A plus-sized person was targeted with fatphobic insults, and they pushed their way through the crowd of students to scream at a person of colour.
Students were told: “You idiots, you like what you like, you clearly don’t care about this.” They were also accused of being “Terrorist sympathisers”. A third man appeared as the protest moved towards the Exhibition Block, using two mobile phones and a chest mounted camera to photograph students.
Safety failings
All three individuals are vloggers and livestreamers who identify themselves as independent media. One protestor told us: “I personally was shoved off of a bench when I was trying to block his camera.” The Encampment Collective told Nouse that at least one of the individuals present had targeted a Jewish student with Nazi slogans at a previous protest.
Student protestors were also threatened with doxxing - the publishing of identifying information online, usually with the intent of harassment, or worse.
Two of the individuals rushed one student protester with tattoos, photographing their arms and claiming they would use this to identify and dox them. This is especially invasive considering the majority of protestors cover their faces to avoid identification. Nouse spoke to the encampment about the effects of this.
We were told that the protestor threatened with doxxing struggled to leave the house for a week after the protest, and shut down all of their social media as a precaution. They stated that “it’s terrifying [...] people are too scared to come to rallies now”, and one protestor explained that they had several panic attacks on the day. “We’ve faced them quite a few times now - we sort of know what to expect [...] but it makes you look over your shoulder for the whole day.”
All three protestors that Nouse interviewed, who were attending in separate capacities and from different student groups, told us that Campus Safety took at least half an hour to arrive once initially called. Nouse has also reviewed extensive video footage from the protest.
Speaking about Campus Safety ‘s response, one protestor told us: “They had no presence. They seemed really unsure.” Another felt belittled by their response, recalling that “they talked down to us”. This refers to a statement one staff member made, where they explained that if a fire had occurred on campus, they would have to leave the scene. This conversation happened while protestors were sheltering inside the Roger Kirk Centre from the three individuals. Campus Safety had dispatched two members of staff to the site.
A University of York spokesperson told Nouse: “Campus Safety is a dedicated team for everyone who lives, studies or works at the University, covering 24/7 to offer support. Whilst members of the public have a right to be present on campus, we responded to concerns raised about the behaviour of masked individuals filming the protest, who clearly attempted to provoke a reaction from students and Campus Safety staff.”
“We recognise our approach to trying to de-escalate the situation created upset amongst some students who felt unsupported, so we have since met with students involved to understand more. We look forward to further constructive conversations as we continue to review and update our standard operating procedures in line with what we have learnt from the largely peaceful protests we have seen on campus this year.”
They also highlighted the triage system “that prioritises any Campus Safety issues”, and claim that “on this particular day the team had a number of cases that required an in-person presence related to protests in separate parts of campus.”
“Any student, however, who reports a specific case of assault will be advised and supported in contacting the police.”
The University did not provide Nouse with any information regarding further measures taken to prevent these individuals from harassing students.
All three individuals were breaking the University’s Rules for the Use of Campus Grounds, which state that individuals cannot perform any act that is likely to cause nuisance, annoyance or injury to other persons, or make any film, telerecording or photograph for commercial gain.
Nouse has seen footage of one individual telling students “I have to thank you, you’ve made me a lot of money today”. Despite this, Campus Safety told protestors that since staff had no proof of their allegations of abuse, they could not remove the individuals from campus despite the concerns of protestors. Their conversation was interrupted twice by the three individuals trying to enter the building.
It was during this conversation that the afore-mentioned protestor had two panic attacks.
However, by the end of the conversation, the Campus Security staff member does state that “I will be asking them to leave campus, and if not, it will be a police matter”.
The Encampment Collective told Nouse that York SU responded promptly to their concerns and signposted them to various support networks. Nouse also understands that the SU are meeting with Campus Safety to raise concerns and “find a solution that works better for everyone moving forward”. The issue was also raised by Union members at a meeting of the University Senate. Nouse understands that several members of the University Executive Board were “disgusted”, and “will be looking for a solution to prevent this from happening again.
Speaking to Nouse, the York SU Sabbatical Officers said: “We are deeply concerned that student protestors were left feeling unsafe on campus. The right to free assembly is paramount, as is the right to feel safe and protected at all times on our campus.”
“We were deeply concerned that these rights were threatened by external members of the public, and found the general inaction from campus se- curity to be incredibly worrying.”
“After being contacted by the group, we prioritised support for their health and wellbeing in the days after the incident.” “We have also held a number of further meetings with Campus Safety to ensure such incidents do not reoccur.”
“We are pleased that subsequent meetings between the group and Campus Safety have been productive, and will continue to work with University staff and the affected students to ensure that safety of our students is prioritised moving forward.”
Profiting off harassment
Our research has uncovered an extensive network of far-right journalists who profit from harassing students. Nouse has chosen to avoid identifying two of the individuals or their social media presences, to withhold from them the platform they desire.
However, we can reveal that one of the individuals who attended the protest uses far-right slogans such as “two-tier policing” and “enough is enough” across his social media. One individual that disrupted the rally, Marti Blagborough, published his footage under the title “I had to use FORCE on the CRAZY PROTESTORS”. Blagborough also attends rallies in support of controversial political figure Tommy Robinson, often alongside other auditors.
Blagborough’s videos follow a larger trend of far-right “auditing”. The Sheffield Tribune has described an auditor as “a type of influencer who looks for police officers, security guards and shop workers to record on camera.” Auditors frequently antagonise the subjects of their videos. Blagborough often collaborates with other auditors, and, like them, uploads many videos antagonising LGBTQ+ protests and pro-Palestine student events in York and Leeds.
Not only does Blagborough have a criminal record, but he uses his channel as a platform for doxxing - some of those who feature in his videos have their phone numbers and emails shared in the “Community” section of his YouTube channel.
Blagborough’s videos frequently gain tens of thousands of views, and remain monetised. He also profits by uploading his videos to third-party platforms like NewsFlare, which sell his footage to broadcasters such as Paramount.
These controversial videos are Blaborough’s full-time job. In January of 2020 he set up Photography Is Not A Crime Media to support this. At its height, PINAC had capital and reserves of £13,884, but was dissolved in 2022.
A recent video on Blagborough’s channel shows him attending the protest against contentious far-right activist Tommy Robinson’s 18-month imprisonment for contempt of court in October. On X he said “respect to everyone who attended”, and “9 months in isolation in a box room. I feel for this lion so bad.”
Nouse reached out to Blagborough for comment about allegations of harassment and far-right support, as well as his reasoning for auditing.
He then posted our email to his personal Facebook page. His followers used this as an excuse to criticise students and media outlets, with comments such as: “yes, please answer so we can misquote and edit your answers to prove that you are a despicable fascist, and did nothing in self defence against the true lefty fascists. Remember that Hitler’s party was National Socialism not Conservatives”.
Nouse understands the concerns voiced in the first part of this comment. Here is Blagborough’s unedited statement to Nouse in full: “Auditing is simply exercising our rights to take images in a public place and measuring the response. I set up PINAC because I saw this as an opportunity to establish such a movement. The pro-Hamas protests do not get audited. That’s not auditing. That’s just me showing an interest in current events and giving me the opportunity to show the r****** for what they are! Terror supporters. As for individual pro terror protesters feeling harassed I couldn’t give a f***. Makes for brilliant content that makes me money. It’s all about the money! As for Tommy, what can I say he is the man and I’ll support him until I die!”
