Yorkshire Rose, real name Amanda Smith, is a “migrant hunter” from Castleford in West Yorkshire and is among the most prolific migrant accommodation harassers in the country. Over the course of 2023, Smith made 56 visits to asylum accommodation, predominantly across the Midlands, Yorkshire, North East and North West. To give a sense of the scale of her activism over previous years, in 2022 she made 124 such visits.

Smith, a former organiser for the English Defence League (EDL) and Britain First, posts videos frequently onto her YouTube and other social media channels which document her accommodation visits. These visits often take place alongside her “security” – a man known as “The Bulldog” – and occasionally with fellow “migrant hunter” Alan Leggett (AKA Active Patriot). The visits themselves tend to follow a similar pattern: Smith films her approach to the accommodation with vague commentary about the location in question, followed by some filming of migrants through windows or in accommodation’s grounds, coupled with an attempt to gain entry to the building. These attempts are generally thwarted by gates and/or locks, or by a security detail who will block entry and often escort Smith and associates off the premises. Usually, the security then become targets for Smith’s ire.

In addition to rounding on staff and security, Smith regularly changes up her tactics to try and force the kinds of interactions and content she wants for her channel. These vary from feigning confusion (“I was told this hotel was for homeless people”) to faking kindness towards asylum seekers. The frequency of Smith’s content, coupled with her often confrontational approach, has led to her YouTube channel now having over 2.5 million views.

In October last year, Smith was arrested for aggravated trespass at RAF Scampton and subjected to bail conditions restricting her from within 200 metres of the site. In January 2024, this was extended by a further three months. Smith is no stranger to situations such as this. Back in January 2021, she and Leggett were arrested for causing alarm and distress, and were supposedly hit with bail conditions banning them from North Yorkshire. Previously, Smith has also harassed staff at COVID-19 test centres, claiming the virus was fake, and engaged with a range of other conspiracies.

Smith has previously posted content on her social media from the fascist group, Patriotic Alternative, as well as posting and often reposting messages full of racism and Islamophobia. She has also referred to Channel-crossings as an “invasion”. Last year Smith was accompanied on several occasions by Michael Horgan, the man behind the Michator Media YouTube channel. Horgan, an NHS nursing associate in Nottinghamshire, made multiple videos from anti-migrant campaigns around the country in 2023, consistently with much higher production value than Smith, Leggett and others.