Daniel “Tommo” Thomas: From Prisoner to Anti-Migrant Protest Leader

Over a single weekend, Thomas organized two large-scale anti-migrant actions. In Dover, crowds in black blocked roads and invoked imagery of 1930s fascist groups, halting small-boat arrivals that day. Hours later, in Portsmouth, Thomas live-streamed for roughly 4½ hours, urging around 200 participants to block roads and prevent migrants from being taken to the processing centre at Manston. The protest ended after police obtained a dispersal order and warned of arrests.

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Thomas grew up on Hayling Island and, at 27, served a two-year sentence for an attempted kidnapping at knifepoint. He later worked as a bricklayer, sales manager, and web-designer, and, according to The Telegraph, served as a tank driver with the King’s Royal Hussars before a medical discharge. He cites a 2019 Downing Street protest for imprisoned far-right activist Tommy Robinson (Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) as a formative moment, later describing himself as Robinson’s bodyguard and travelling with him to Tenerife in July of the previous year. Thomas co-led the Birmingham-based “Raise the Colours” group with Ryan Bridge, filming anti-immigration actions on the French coast before being banned from France. Hope Not Hate, an anti-racism organization, notes that Thomas attended a fee-paying private school in Hampshire.

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He announced plans to deploy “50 boats” in the English Channel and to lock down the Port of Dover to stop migrant arrivals. The group adopts far-right vetting tactics, including phone screening of supporters, and promotes a narrative that links migrant presence to crime.

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Police described the Portsmouth demonstration as a coordinated effort that required a dispersal order and the threat of arrests. Thomas’s repeated threats to drown himself were noted as a tactic to avoid arrest, as police indicated that entering the water would complicate enforcement. He remains subject to an ongoing court case that restricts his presence in Dover.

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“I took a loudspeaker. I started talking about the the injustice that had happened to Tommy. I started talking about, you know, if this can happen to him, it can happen to any of us. We need to stand up to this. And people listened,” — Daniel Thomas

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