Falkirk has become one of the UK’s hotspots for racial unrest after months of protests outside an asylum hotel in the central Scotland town.
Among those fanning the anti-immigration flames are Reform Councillor Claire Mackie-Brown and Julie Reilly, a key figure in the Voices For Falkirk Facebook group, which has 3,400 followers.
Both women were prominent at the protest gathering in the town on Tuesday night, mingling among masked men.
In December last year former Tory-turned-Reform representative Claire Mackie-Brown attended a demonstration attended by members of the far-right Homeland Party. She smiled as she was snapped alongside flags bearing far-right slogans.
Among those at the event was Josh Fernie, who has called for all Jews and Muslims living in the UK to be deported.
View 5 ImagesFalkirk Reform Councillor Clare Mackie Brown
Mackie-Brown, a councillor for the Upper Braes ward on Falkirk Council, was pictured holding a flag emblazoned with the slogan: “Born & Bred in Falkirk Claire Mackie-Brown”.
The image was shared on Fernie’s social media on December 6 with the caption: “We are only growing in numbers as more patriots rise.”
Fernie later tweeted: “Remigrate all the Muslims and Jews then white people will stop getting caught in the middle of their foreign squabbles.”
Asked if a black person born in Scotland could be Scots in a recent BBC documentary, Homeland Party activist Fernie replied: “No. Because they don’t have ancestral ties to here.”
The Homeland Party was formed as a splinter organisation from the extremist Patriotic Alternative (PA) group – which has been denied political party status seven times.
Mackie-Brown said at the time she had no prior knowledge of Josh Fernie or the Homeland Party.
But after the protest in Falkirk on Tuesday she posted a video in Tik-Tok, where she conflated the incident in Belfast with the murder of Henry Nowak, who was stabbed to death by a killer who was Sikh.
View 5 ImagesClaire Mackie-Brown said she was proud to stand in solidarity with protesters, despite the sinister masked men attending
She wrote: “What is happening in our country’s unprecedented, and people have had enough. “
Mackie-Brown was elected in May 2022 as a Conservative councillor for the Upper Braes in Falkirk, but resigned from the group to sit as an Independent before joining Reform.
She has previously attracted criticism for publishing a Tweet in support of convicted killer Luke Mitchell.
The politician was also found to be in arrears in Council Tax while a serving councillor.
Julie Reilly, 48, became the focal point of the campaign to shut down the Cladhan Hotel after former front man Connor Graham, 28 took a step back following a public order conviction he received.
She is closely associated with the Voices For Falkirk group, which has vigorously promoted anti-immigration causes.
Reilly filmed a BBC crew as it was making a documentary in a Falkirk park, which involved interviewing asylum seekers.
View 5 ImagesJulie Reilly – Voices For Falkirk
Her video was posted online and attracted the attention of influential far right figure Tommy Robinson, who circulated it.
The video, which showed her accuse the BBC of encouraging asylum seekers to use the park, was viewed more than two million times.
Reilly was at the vanguard of the protest on Tuesday night, where she was spotted in a heated conversation with police.
She was also pictured standing under a Saltire flag, between two men, one of whom was wearing a Union Jack mask.
In January this year, Reilly posted on Facebook: “I’m past the point of wanting to deport the illegals. I want to deport the people who want them here too.”
View 5 ImagesAn earlier protest at the Cladhan Hotel
Another group that has stirred up racial unrest in Falkirk is the Scottish Freedom Patriots, who are organising protests outside the Cladhan Hotel twice a week.
The group has announced that it is upping the protests for next week – seeking a following to gather there every night of the week.
Facebook and TikTok content from the group typically depicts black men as a danger to society.#
The group was among the first to post the “Solidarity Gathering Notice” for the demo on Tuesday, which attracted into sinister elements.
It’s motto on Facebook is “Sink the Boats”.
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