“ALMOST GOT LYNCHED”

Top BBC Reporter Hounded by Wild Crowd of Anti-COVID Lockdown Zealots

Nicholas Watt, a senior BBC editor, forced to flee into Downing Street to get away from rabid anti-lockdown protesters as U.K. coronavirus restrictions extended

A top BBC journalist was forced to take refuge in Downing Street after being chased through London by a mob of anti-lockdown protesters. Nicholas Watt, political editor of the flagship Newsnight program, was accosted by demonstrators gathered in Whitehall Monday before Boris Johnson officially confirmed the extension of coronavirus restrictions. Clearly visible with a blue mask in a sea of unmasked protesters, Watt was repeatedly jostled and denounced as a “traitor” as the demonstrators shouted about BBC coverage of the COVID pandemic. Clearly frightened for his safety, he ran off and pushed his way through through the crowd until he reached police lines. One Twitter user said that Watt had “almost got lynched.”