Truro has been at the centre of national headlines this morning after protestors made their feelings against UKIP European election candidate Carl Benjamin known in very Cornish fashion.
Raw fish was the projectile of choice for one woman, while a man tried to aim milkshake at him and a busker with a jazz trumpet attempted to drown out Mr Benjamin’s words at a rally on Lemon Quay.
The incident has caused a stir across social media, with national newspapers also reporting on it.
So Carl Benjamin came to Truro today and this happened...#CarlBenjamin #Cornwall #UKIP pic.twitter.com/rBBVlW4qnb
— Alex Welsford (@al_welsford) May 10, 2019
Falmouth University’s student newspaper has particularly found itself in the spotlight. The Falmouth Anchor’s website has been crashing due to a report by reporter Jacob Jaffa being shared so many times for its headline: “’Super callous fragile racist sexist UKIP a***hole’: Carl Benjamin visits Truro”.
It makes reference to one of the protestor’s placards, which mimics the wording of the famous song from the film Mary Poppins.
Mr Benjamin had been giving speeches in the city centre when the protests took place.
The European parliamentary hopeful has been at the centre of recent controversy over a tweet he sent in 2016, in which he wrote he “wouldn’t even rape” MP Jess Phillips – before going on to say in a video uploaded to his YouTube channel last month that “with enough pressure I might cave”.
He has refused to apologise, arguing that “any subject can be the subject of a joke.” Police are now investigating.
Mr Benjamin is one of 47 candidates running to become an MEP for South-West England.
He was joined in Truro by Milo Yiannopoulos, a British writer and editor now based in the US, who has been banned from Facebook and Twitter, the latter saying it was for "inciting or engaging in the targeted abuse or harassment of others.”
He is known for making controversial comments, including about transgender people, feminists, gay people and Muslims.
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