The eco-zealots who tried to disrupt the Grand National at the weekend complained that police and security guards hurt them as they were arrested after storming the world-famous racecourse.
Protesters from XR offshoot Animal Rising, formerly named Animal Rebellion, attempted to cancel the races at Aintree but were halted by Merseyside Police officers, G4S security guards and racing fans.
The disruption caused a 15-minute delay to the start of the race, while one furious trainer whose horse died in the event blamed the activists for contributing to the animal’s death.
Nearly 120 people were arrested and bailed, as fears grow that the left-wing eco-group will try to stage more stunts at other races including the Epsom Derby and Ascot.
In a video published on Twitter last night, Animal Rising complained that they were hurt by police during the arrests. Portraying themselves as peaceful protesters, they claimed they suffered broken bones, dog bites and pepper spray attacks in a string of incendiary remarks.
They said: ‘On Saturday we took peaceful action at the Grand National, to save lives and bring about a kinder world. In response we were brutalised by police and private security, we’ve experienced broken bones, dog bites and pepper spray. Is this what democracy looks like?’
Following their efforts, Animal Rising appear to have doubled down on their infamy and has announced plans to to raise £50,000 to wreak havoc across the country this summer. Some people have already donated over £16,000 to its crowdfunder with the group promising Saturday’s failure to stop the Aintree race was ‘just the beginning.’
The fundraising page on Chuffed reads: ‘This April saw the launch of Animal Rising, a movement for all life. With only the promise of disrupting the Grand National, watched by 600 million people worldwide, we already made front-page news and appeared on Good Morning Britain. And stopping the Grand National is just the beginning.’
A protester runs towards the exterior fence to break into the course
A massive police response was triggered after two protesters made it onto the course
One of the protestors has their face on the ground while a police officer kneels beside them
A detained animal rights activist is carried by police officers at Aintree Racecourse
Activists outside the gates ahead of day three of the Randox Grand National Festival
In the short clip, several activists make a series of incendiary claims towards the authorities policing the event.
One man, who was filmed with his arm in a sling and claims 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.
‘There was no warning at all given by the police officer, they didn’t care, they didn’t care what my condition was.’
Another activist claims he was ‘choked unconscious’ before being ‘pulled by his hair’ and called a ‘p****’ by police.
Another claims they saw their ‘teammate viciously attacked by a security dog’.
They said: ‘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.’
Another activist told the camera: ‘I was sprayed by an officer in the eyes with pepper spray and the police officer cuffed me so tight that I couldn’t feel my arms or my hands and I told them I feel like you’re just breaking my wrists and he told me to ‘keep f******* walking.
‘He called me a little p**** and that I deserve this pain.’
Activists took to Twitter to whine about injuries they sustained while trying to stop the race
Protesters accused private security service G4S of being heavy handed
One protester said he had been touched by a policeman’s rubber baton
MailOnline has approached Merseyside Police and G4S security for a response to these claims.
It comes as Animal Rising announced plans to to raise £50,000 to wreak havoc across the country this summer.
The 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.
‘Because disrupting races to protect animals from cruel sports is only part of the picture. Most importantly, we will be generating a wider conversation about how we treat animals in society as a whole, whether that’s for fun or ‘food’.
‘Our broken relationship with animals is never clearer than in animal farming and fishing.
‘These industries are directly responsible for not only animal exploitation and suffering, but also global heating, extreme weather events, food insecurity, and the mass loss of wildlife and nature.’
Protesters sit together after they were detained by police
Handcuffed activists are guarded by police officers during the Grand National at Aintree
The plot to wreck the national was exposed by an undercover Mail on Sunday investigation earlier this month. It meant police and security guards were able to prepare and minimise the disruption on Saturday.
Following the disruption, there have 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. Calls for tough action to repel the protesters had been demanded before the race by figures including former Conservative leader 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.’
