Republished March 12, 2018 - 7:03 AM
Original Publication Date March 12, 2018 - 4:51 AM
LONDON - Three far-right figures say they have been deported from Britain after being detained when trying to enter the country.
Austrian Martin Sellner of the Generation Identity group, American commentator Brittany Pettibone and Canadian activist and YouTube personality Lauren Southern tweeted Monday that they were denied entry into Britain.
Britain's Home Office said in a statement that the border force "has the power to refuse entry to an individual if it is considered that his or her presence in the U.K. is not conducive to the public good."
Sellner said in a video posted on Twitter that he and Pettibone were detained for three days and deported.
He said on the video that both of them were handcuffed. He said he had planned to give a speech at "Speakers' Corner" in London's Hyde Park. He said "that was my crime."
Pettibone said that she was denied entry because she had plans to interview far-right leader Tommy Robinson.
She said from Austria that "It felt like they were saying, 'you're right-wing, that's not allowed.'"
Southern, who has more than 400,000 subscribers on YouTube, tweeted that she was "officially banned from UK for 'racism'" but was doing fine.
She said "all the cool people are being banned anyway."
News from © The Associated Press, 2018