Black Lives Matter: Katie Hopkins causes outrage after calling for water cannon to be used against Heathrow protesters

Chains: Protesters lie on the tarmac, blocking the main entrance to Heathrow
@WailQ/PA
Mark Chandler5 August 2016

Loudmouth columnist Katie Hopkins provoked fresh outrage today after calling for water cannon to be used against Black Lives Matter protesters at Heathrow.

Ms Hopkins branded the group "utter dullards" after they chained themselves to the tarmac on an approach road from the M4, causing hours of travel chaos for holiday-makers.

Ten people were arrested at the protest and taken to a west London police station, while officers had to cut loose protesters who tied themselves to one another.

The road was not able to open fully until around 12.30pm, some four hours after the demonstration started.

Ms Hopkins, who appeared to be hinting she would be going to the airport to fly out for a holiday this weekend, ranted on Twitter: "Sod that you utter dullards.

"At Heathrow, holiday-makers matter more. If you're still there tomorrow…stand by."

She later addressed the Mayor of London, tweeting: "Sadiq....you still selling Boris' water cannons. "Because they are needed. NOW. At Heathrow."

One Twitter user responded: "What a lovely example this woman is to my daughters.

"However you grow up girls, be the opposite of this awful woman."

And @BostonGorgina asked: "Why would you turn to violence against peaceful activists?"

The firebrand radio host previously stoked up controversy after blaming Black Lives Matter protesters in America for the shooting of police officers because they "made people pick a side".

Writing for Huck Magazine today, Heathrow protester Wail Qasim wrote that he wanted to highlight problems which don’t get discussed in the UK.

He said: "The everyday disruption that is suffered by those who experience racism in Britain is as much an inconvenience as not being able to get to your flight on time.

"That black people are 37 times more likely to be stopped and searched, three times more likely to be arrested and 44 times more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act in this country is the sort of disruption that doesn’t make headlines or get denounced wholesale."

He wrote: "Black Lives Matter as a movement in the UK is just beginning. Whilst we build on the work of those in the US our own conversation needs to urgently begin here.

"Our goals are nothing short of justice for those killed and a future where black lives are not full of grief. I know that the #Shutdown has got us closer to this."

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