LONDON (AP) — A far-right activist who has led protests against migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats has been arrested for allegedly slashing a dinghy in the water, police said Thursday.
The incident came as agitators against immigration adopt a confrontational new tactic of trying to stop the boats landing on England's shores, clashing with police and rescue workers in the process.
A video posted Tuesday on social media appears to show Daniel Thomas, 37, taking a knife to an inflatable boat, which was empty of migrants but had a rescue services member aboard, while shouting “You’re in English territory.”
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said a 37-year-old man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of criminal damage with intent to endanger life and endangering the safety of a vessel. It said he remained in custody on Thursday.
British police do not identify suspects by name until they are charged.
Thomas, who goes by the nickname Danny Tommo, is a longtime associate of far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson. Patriot Platform, a group Thomas founded, is behind recent protests in which masked, black-clad men tried to stop migrants reaching the U.K.
Earlier this month, masked demonstrators blocked the port of Dover, in southeast England, and tried to stop migrants being taken ashore in Portsmouth on the country’s south coast.
On Tuesday, hundreds of activists gathered at a marina in Gosport, near Portsmouth, as Thomas filmed himself going out to sea to try to intercept a dinghy carrying dozens of migrants across the Channel from France. Police said three people were charged with assaulting an emergency worker during the demonstration.
Some anti-immigration activists have targeted the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, a 200-year-old volunteer force that rescues people in distress at sea, because if is often called out to meet the migrant boats.
Some lifeboat crew members have been abused online and had their names and photos published, and the RNLI’s Portsmouth station closed temporarily after the protest in the city earlier this month.
Successive U.K. governments have struggled to stop people — more than 41,000 last year — making the dangerous journey across one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. The issue has been depicted as a crisis by politicians including Nigel Farage of the hard-right party Reform UK, and has been used as a rallying point by anti-immigration activists.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s center-left government says stepped-up law enforcement cooperation between Britain and France has helped reduce the number of people making the crossing so far this year by more than 40% compared with 2025.
Burnham’s government has condemned the “intimidating and thuggish behavior” of recent anti-immigrant demonstrators.
The U.K. has seen a wave of sometimes violent anti-immigrant demonstrations in the past two years. Protesters clashed with police last year outside hotels housing asylum seekers in London and several other cities. In June, masked men in Northern Ireland set fire to several homes in Belfast they believed to house immigrants after a Sudanese man was arrested over a stabbing.
A group of migrants try to cross the channel from France to Britain on a dinghy boat, in Hardelot, northern France, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
A group of migrants try to cross the channel from France to Britain on a dinghy boat, in Hardelot, northern France, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
Police standby as people gather outside the Portsmouth Guildhall, Portsmouth, England, to take part in an anti-migrant South Coast Patriots march, Saturday Sept. 12, 2026. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP)
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Powerful Hurricane Polo sent bands of heavy rain across Mexico's Pacific coast Thursday as a growing Tropical Storm Nolo approached Hawaii with the potential for catastrophic flooding.
Polo was forecast to maintain Category 5 strength as it skirts Mexico's coast over the next few days. Rain and strong winds had already started to pummel the coast, with waves crashing onto the normally pristine beaches.
While the eye and the strongest winds were expected to remain at sea, the heavy rains could cause life-threatening flooding and landslides, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Farther west in the Pacific, Tropical Storm Nolo was churning about 295 miles (475 kilometers) south of South Point, Hawaii. It was forecast to become a hurricane by Thursday night and was expected to approach the Big Island as early as Friday. A hurricane watch was issued for Hawaii County.
Gov. Josh Green's office said public schools and state and county offices on the Big Island will close Thursday and Friday, while Maui County will shutter them on Friday ahead of the threat of heavy rain, winds and flooding. Forecasters said the storm could drop up to 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain.
Concepción López Villegas was busily bolstering her seaside restaurant in Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán state, against the expected onslaught of rain. Strong waves were already hitting some beaches and López Villegas said she feared the storm could destroy the small business she worked decades to build.
“We’re worried and trying to protect our businesses,” López Villegas said. “And of course, we’re sad because it’s our heritage, our legacy that from one moment to another could be destroyed.”
Guerrero state was particularly at risk of life-threatening flooding and mudslides, the hurricane center said.
Polo was swirling about 130 miles (209 kilometers) south-southwest of Zihuatanejo early Thursday and was moving northwest at 7 mph (11 kph). A turn west-northwest was forecast for later in the day, taking it further out to sea, before turning northwest Saturday.
The storm had maximum sustained winds of 160 mph (257 kph), and was expected to remain a major hurricane for the next few days. Hurricane-force winds extended up to 40 miles (65 kilometers) from the eye and tropical-storm-force winds extended up to 115 miles (185 kilometers).
The region most under threat from Polo is rural and mountainous, scattered with a few small tourist towns and ports. Much of the area is marked by poverty and residents routinely complain authorities abandon them to fend for themselves during natural disasters.
Mexico’s government has called for evacuations in some areas and set up shelters for those affected. Thousands of military and Red Cross personnel have been deployed to the region as a preventive measure.
The National Weather Service said Tropical Storm Nolo would likely strengthen before closing in on the Big Island on Friday or Saturday.
The storm has the potential to be a major hurricane, John Bravender, a weather service warning coordination meteorologist, said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
While high winds are expected, Bravender said the main concern is the possibility of flash flooding. He said 20 to 30 inches (50 to 76 centimeters) of rain could fall through Saturday on southeastern parts of the Big Island, the same region hit hard in August by Hurricane Lala.
“That by itself could cause catastrophic flooding, but when you put that on top of grounds that we’ve been raining off and on for the last couple of months … that rain could cause even more damage,” Bravender said.
He urged preparation across all Hawaii islands in case the storm’s trajectory shifts.
“You need to take action now,” said Bravender. “Today is really the last dry day you have to get ready.”
Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda told residents in a video message on social media that they should start preparing now for the storm. He urged people to put together an emergency kit with food, water and medications, trim vegetation and clear drains.
“This is a very serious situation,” he said. “We do believe that the rain is going to come. It's coming already.”
The governor issued an emergency proclamation Tuesday and more than 230 Hawaii National Guard members have been activated, said Maj. Gen. Stephen Logan, adjutant general of the state’s Department of Defense.
Kauai’s electric cooperative urged residents to prepare for “the possibility of prolonged power outages,” and to store nonperishable food and potable water.
Over 100 Kauai households remain without power from Hurricane Lowell, which passed west of the island on Sept. 7.
Hawaiian Electric, the state’s primary utility, said crews would return to at-risk areas in preparation for the coming storm.
Tropical Storm Fay re-formed early Thursday in the northern Atlantic Ocean with maximum sustained winds near 40 mph (65 kph), the U.S. hurricane center said. It was 935 miles (1,505 kilometers) west-southwest of the Azores, moving west-southwest at 9 mph (15 kph).
In the Pacific, Hurricane Odalys had winds of 85 mph (137 kph) and was centered about 1,200 miles (1,940 kilometers) west-southwest of the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula.
Aoun reported from San Diego. Associated Press reporters Desiree Brooks in Atlanta and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.
This satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Tropical Storm Nolo in the Pacific Ocean, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (NOAA via AP)
This satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Hurricane Odalys in the Pacific Ocean, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (NOAA via AP)
This photo provided by NOAA shows Hurricane Polo strengthening in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. (NOAA via AP)
