EXCLUSIVE – Revealed: Animal Rising fanatic who moaned about ‘police brutality’ after he was arrested for Grand National stunt is drag act who was among eco-mob that stormed The Mall during Trooping the Colour at Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
- Beau King Houston was among those detained at Aintree on Saturday
- He claims he was sprayed by an officer in the eyes with pepper spray
One of the Animal Rising eco activists who complained about police brutality after being arrested at the Grand National can be identified by MailOnline today.
Beau King Houston, who also performs as drag act Silver Summers, was among those detained at Aintree on Saturday when protesters stormed the racecourse.
Houston featured in a video set to emotional piano music posted by the group on Twitter on Tuesday, which saw the activists complain officers were rough with them.
He claimed: ‘I was sprayed by an officer in the eyes with pepper spray. The police officer cuffed me so tight that I couldn’t feel my arms or my hands. I told him that I felt like he was breaking my wrists and he just told me keep f***ing walking. He called me a little p***k and told me that it was my fault and I deserved this pain.’
Merseyside Police has insisted it dealt with the protesters ‘in a safe and appropriate manner’, adding that ‘criminal behaviour and disorder will not be tolerated’.
Houston previously hit the headlines in June 2022 when he was among a group who stormed onto The Mall during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Beau King Houston as among those detained at Aintree and complained about his arrest
Beau King Houston sits on the grass after being arrested at Aintree Racecourse on Saturday
The activist was also involved in an anti-dairy protest at Harrods in Knightsbridge in August last year when demonstrators poured milk all over the shop floor.
READ MORE – Police insist ‘live footage’ of the Grand National debacle proves officers were ‘professional’
Houston was previously recorded by an undercover Mail On Sunday journalist talking about what the group – formerly known as Animal Rebellion – were planning to do at Aintree.
Referring to the world-famous racecourse, he said: ‘We may have been there at some point recently and I was like thinking I could easily jump over. ‘
Speaking about further protests, Houston said: Am I prepared to take action? Definitely. And will I be taking action? Hell yeah.’
He added: ‘If we all did this. If we really believe we can all do it together then it’ll create massive change. If anyone wants to take part in the Grand National then we can put you in the group chat.’
On previous protests, Houston said: ‘Obviously I am a cisgender white man so I can’t say my struggle with it… like I am coming from a place of privilege and just because it was easy for me doesn’t mean it will be easy for everyone, right?
‘But it really was less scary than I thought. And it was really a breeze I have to be honest. Like when you get to the [police] station they say to you – we’re here for you to make sure you’re OK here.
‘Otherwise they are liable so they have to really look after you. I never felt claustrophobic or anything in the cells. It’s actually alright, it’s like a small bedroom. So after that I was like ‘let’s go’, it’s never scared me since.’
Beau King Houston is pictured as drag queen Silver Summers with the actress Joanna Lumley
Beau King Houston was also involved in a protest on The Mall during the Platinum Jubilee
His Twitter profile describes him as a ‘media personality’ based in London, and has the hashtags: ‘#singer #artist #activist #socialist #actor #vegan #diversityrolemodel #mosaictrust #blacklivesmatter #queerlivesmstter #animalsmatter.’
READ MORE — Just Stop Oil zealots threaten King Charles’s coronation
Much of his recent timeline has seen him retweeting videos posted by Animal Rising about the group’s disruption.
Houston, who grew up in Glasgow, has performed as Silver Summers at Trafalgar Square for Pride in London in 2017 and has been part of a drag troupe called The Fabulettes.
Animal Rising activists claimed police officers and security guards from G4S broke their bones, unleashed dogs and used pepper spray on them at Aintree on Saturday.
Protesters stormed the racecourse before they were halted by police and staff.
But the disruption delayed the start time by 15 minutes, while one furious trainer whose horse died in the event blamed the eco-fanatics for helping cause the animal’s death.
Nearly 120 people were arrested and bailed, as fears grow that the radical Left-wing group will try to stage more stunts at other races including the Epsom Derby and Ascot.
Addressing claims of police brutality at Aintree, Merseyside Police said yesterday: ‘The footage shown live on television on Saturday 15 April demonstrated the professionalism of our officers as they dealt with a co-ordinated protest involving large groups of people attempting to encroach onto the racecourse at Aintree.
A massive police response was triggered after two protesters made it onto the course
‘Despite the whole site covering an extensive perimeter of around 5km our officers, with the assistance of security staff and members of the public, were able to deal with the challenging situation in a safe and appropriate manner.
READ MORE – The Open organisers engage with protest groups in an attempt to prevent disruptions at Hoylake in July
‘Merseyside Police is aware of a video posted online showing a number of protesters making claims following their arrests on Saturday. As of today (Wednesday 19 April), Merseyside Police’s Professional Standards Department has not received a complaint in relation to any of these claims.
‘If we do receive any complaints in relation to this matter, they will be reviewed thoroughly in accordance with the Police (Complaints) Regulations 2020.
‘We respect the right to a peaceful protest and expression of views, but criminal behaviour and disorder will not be tolerated and sadly this is what took place at the Grand National on Saturday in an attempt to disrupt the race, which resulted in the arrests.’
Animal Rising has appeared to have doubled down on their infamy and has announced plans to raise £50,000 to wreak havoc across the country this summer.
Some people have already donated over £16,000 to its crowd-funder with the group promising Saturday’s failure to stop the Aintree race was ‘just the beginning.’
In the short clip posted on Twitter, several activists make a series of incendiary claims towards the police and private security service G4S.
An animal rights activist is detained by the police at Aintree on Saturday
Police officers with a detained protester during the Grand National on Saturday
Another protester, who was filmed with his arm in a sling and claimed to have a broken collarbone, said: ‘He just poleaxed me, flattened me to the ground. Hit me on this side and that fractured my collarbone.
READ MORE – Now Extinction Rebellion agree to STOP protesters from disrupting the London Marathon
‘There was no warning at all given by the police officer, they didn’t care, they didn’t care what my condition was.’
A further activist claimed he was ‘choked unconscious’ before being ‘pulled by his hair’ and called a ‘p****’ by police.
Another claimed: ‘One of my teammates was being viciously attacked by a security dog.
‘He desperately asked a security guard to remove the dog. He watched the dog viciously attack my friend and take a chunk out of his leg. All of this was done in front of the police.’
Other activists claim they were repeatedly pushed to the ground by officers and roughly manhandled despite ‘screaming in pain’.
MailOnline approached G4S security for a response to these claims however they declined to comment.
Animal Rights’ fundraising page on Chuffed reads: ‘By the end of the year we aim to be a household name, having put our treatment of animals and the destruction of nature at the heart of public conversation.
The plot to wreck the Grand National was exposed by an undercover Mail on Sunday investigation earlier this month.
Police arrest protesters on The Mall in London last June as they disrupt the Jubilee parade
It meant police and security guards were able to prepare and minimise the disruption on Saturday.
READ MORE – The anti-monarchist plan to disrupt King Charles’s Coronation
There have since been calls for authorities to take stern action on protesters to serve as a deterrent, including from Tory MP Philip Davies, vice chairman of the all party parliamentary group on racing and bloodstock.
He said: ‘I very much hope that the courts throw the book at these ignorant, virtue signalling anarchists who wouldn’t know one end of a horse from another, and whose antics did more damage to horse welfare on Saturday than anyone else.’
Sandy Thomson, trainer of Hill Sixteen, said the horses were ‘very wound up’ by the disruption and that his horse had never fallen before in his 26-race career.
He cited the delay and the rushed preparation caused by the protesters as being a major reason for the race’s total of three fallers, along with five unseated jockeys, over the first two fences.
Hill Sixteen was one of three horses who died during this year’s three-day Grand National Festival, down one from four last year.
There had been calls for tough action to repel the protesters before the race from figures including former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith.
The MP said: ‘All these people ever do is protest – it’s become a way of life for them. The police shouldn’t tolerate it.’
Source: Read Full Article
