A self-styled vigilante group in the UK has been accused of harassing Indian students and ordering them to leave a public park during a night patrol, claiming the area was meant for children and families.
The Solihull Green Party condemned the alleged harassment, saying there was no apparent reason for the students to have been approached other than their ethnicity.
It also said it was trying to locate the men to check on their welfare.
Dressed in black, the group claimed it was patrolling the area to protect women and children amid reports of missing children and rapes. One of the group members then warned the students to stay away from the park. “What you need to do is stay away from a children’s park. Do not come round here again. Do not be seen here again. This is your final warning,” he was heard saying in the video, as per Metro .
The group, which calls itself the “Chelmsley Wood Patriots”, filmed its members confronting the students at Meriden Park in Chelmsley Wood, near Birmingham, according to a report by Metro . The group claimed that the men gave “very different stories” about their presence in the park and said they were “politely” asked to leave. “Parks are for children, family units, not three grown men sitting in the dark filming when we have so many uncertainties at present,” the group said in its post, per Metro .
“The actions of people calling themselves ‘patriots’ are tarnishing the reputation of Chelmsley Wood, the community we live in and love.
Real patriotism means standing up for your neighbours, not intimidating them,” Sheshabhatter said.
