The peaceful Black Lives Matter hero, who was photographed carrying an injured white protester away from danger, has described how he was compelled to act because he feared the man was about to be killed.
The image of Patrick Hutchinson, a grandfather and personal trainer from Wimbledon, south west London, carrying the man on his shoulder through the rioting crowd went viral as a symbol of hope and unity amid the chaos of Saturday’s disorder.
Mr Hutchinson, who is an athletics coach, insisted he simply acted on instinct to protect the man.
The security consultant and martial arts expert said he and a group of friends had decided to attend the Black Lives Matter protests in London on Saturday to prevent young black demonstrators from getting into trouble.
“I had no plans to go up there. I was at home looking after my grandchildren – and my friend said we’ve gotta go and protect the women and the children and stop these young guys from getting in any trouble,” he explained.
But as they approached Waterloo station, trouble flared with a large group of far right protesters and running battles broke out with the police caught in the middle.
It is not clear whether the man who was hurt had been part of the demonstrations or whether he was simply caught up in the chaos of the violence.
Mr Hutchinson said he spotted him lying on the ground and quickly realised that if he did not act, the man was in danger of being crushed or even beaten to death.
Get the latest headlines: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Telegraph.co.uk and YouTube.com/TelegraphTV are websites of The Telegraph, the UK’s best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.