A Greater Manchester Police warrant that social media auditor Brandon Breen posted online appears to authorize the seizure of property from people over their immigration views: electronic devices, SIM cards, spray paint, and any material “concerning HMOs or views towards immigration,” plus evidence “linked to other members of groups holding anti-immigrant views.”
Breen, known online as “Struggle of the Streets” and followed by nearly 50,000 people on Facebook, told his followers that officers came to his home last Thursday, November 5. The Manchester Evening News, reporting the warrant’s language, said the image he shared “appears to” give police that authority. The newspaper has not independently authenticated it.
The warrant was issued at magistrates’ court — Britain’s lower criminal court — last week. Greater Manchester Police declined to comment. That is the only official line.
Houses in multiple occupation, or HMOs, are shared rented properties. In Greater Manchester, they have become the focus of a running fight over the housing of asylum seekers.
After the raid, Breen wrote that police “took the door off” and “nicked” him — British slang for arrested — and left him “under serious restrictions.” “They are trying to shut me down and stitch me up big time,” he said, adding that officers had taken his phone and cameras and that he was posting from a “half broke phone.”
In a video posted Sunday, November 8, he said police came at “5 o’clock in the morning, kicked the door down, all my kids in there, scared,” with officers shouting “stay where you are.” He described “fifteen or twenty of them, half of them in riot gear, the other half just CID” — plainclothes detectives. He said he is now on a “seven-seven curfew,” a phrase that in British bail conditions usually means he must remain at home from 7 PM to 7 AM. He said he cannot go to protests, “can’t upload certain types of content,” and “can’t speak about any police investigations.” “They’re just trying to ruin my channel,” he said. “By the way, I’ve done absolutely f****** nothing, there was no need in doing what they’ve done.”
Nobody has said what offense he is suspected of, or whether he has been charged or only released under restrictions that sound like bail conditions.
The Mill, a Manchester newsletter, headlined his reported arrest as connected to recent protests against HMOs said to house asylum seekers. HOPE Not Hate, a George Soros-funded far-left activist group, claimed on October 15 that since October 5, 25 properties had been targeted over four evenings in Salford — first in Kersal, then Walkden and Little Hulton — with “No HMOs” graffiti, a swastika, and a pig’s head. The group named Breen as posting daily videos about the incidents. Notably, HOPE Not Hate has previously spread misinformation about fictitious anti-Muslim acid attacks.
Breen previously told the press that accusations that he and other content creators were responsible for violence in Salford were “unfair.” “I am just reporting on situations that are happening local to me, the same as you [the local press] do yourselves. All I have done is record what is going on, to say that I have contributed to this is a complete lie.”
The Tameside Correspondent reported on October 22 that four properties in Stalybridge, Dukinfield, and Denton were targeted overnight on October 20–21, and that some footage circulated under a “struggle of the streets” tag. Local leaders said Greater Manchester Police “have made a number of arrests in relation to Greater Manchester incidents.” They did not name Breen.
