The Millwall fan rescued by a Black Lives Matter protester is a retired police detective who travelled to London and got ‘stinking drunk’ after being enraged that Winston Churchill’s statue was defaced, MailOnline can reveal.
Bryn Male, 55, met with friends in Parliament Square in Westminster to help protect the sculpture after being ‘incensed’ by the graffiti attack at protests the previous weekend.
However Mr Male, an ex-detective constable with the British Transport Police, who retired in 2014 after 20-years in the force, had too much to drink and got into trouble.
Bryn Male (pictured), 55, was carried by Black Lives Matter protestor Patrick Hutchinson after being injured whilst protecting the Winston Churchill statue from being defaced on Saturday
It transpires that Mr Male (pictured right), from Hampshire, is a retired police detective
He was surrounded by a crowd of angry Black Lives Matter protesters as he walked back to Waterloo station on Saturday and was punched and kicked to the floor.
In a now iconic photo he was pictured being rescued from the mob by hero BLM protester Patrick Hutchinson who lifted him up on his shoulders and took him down a flight of stairs to where police had lined up.
Today, a friend of Mr Male’s and fellow member of the Chineham Village Club, near his home in Basingstoke, Hampshire, said: ‘He is patriotic Brit, England through and through, and proud of the country’s history.
‘So when he saw the images on the news of Black Lives Matter protesters vandalising the Churchill statue and Cenotaph, he was incensed and wanted to do something to protect them.
Police officers visited home of Mr Male (not pictured), who worked for the British Transport Police for 20 years before retiring in 2014
Mr Male was surrounded by Black Lives Matters protestors on his way back to Waterloo station and was punched and kicked to the floor
‘He went to London and met some of his Millwall mates to protest against the monuments being damaged the previous weekend and to make sure they were not targeted again.
‘What actually happened during the protest, I don’t know as I wasn’t with him. But I know that he got stinking drunk and was attacked as he walked back to Waterloo station.
‘He got a black eye and suffered cuts and bruises and also had his phone and gold chain stolen.
‘He refused any medical treatment, despite the police advising him to, and came home later on Saturday night with a shiner. His wife was livid, he’s 55 not 25!
‘He pretty much keeps himself to himself in the club, he has a few pints and watches the football.’
Family friend John O’Brien said: ‘Bryn loves his football and his beer. I haven’t spoken to him since all this happened but I know he would have been angry about all the threats to the statues.
‘He’ll probably say that he was there to protect them and that he’s a patriot and all that stuff but at the end of the day this was a get together with his Millwall pals on the drink more than anything else.
‘He was barely able to defend himself, never mind Winston Churchill’s statute.’
A friend of Mr Male’s ex-wife Karen said: ‘She’s really embarrassed and doesn’t want to talk about it. It just brings back a lot of painful memories for her because this kind of behaviour is just typical of Bryn.
‘He’s a boy in a man’s body. He hasn’t grown up properly and still loves hanging out with the lads and getting up to all kinds of mischief.
‘Karen always complained that he put football and his mates before her. It appears that little has changed and it’s pathetic that a grown man who is also a grandfather is still behaving like this.’
The Millwall fan, who has a tattoo of the South London club’s lion on his left leg, was seen being hoisted, dazed and confused, on the shoulders of Mr Hutchinson.
The well-built personal trainer waded into a crowd of fellow Black Lives Matter protesters and plucked Mr Male to safety after he had been surrounded and punched and kicked to the floor.
The former police detective was carried through the crowd to safety following the incident
Mr Male (pictured) who has a Millwall FC tattoo on his leg (pictured), got ‘stinking drunk’ on the day of the incident in London
In shocking footage obtained by MailOnline showing the build- up to the attack he appears to cower slightly before being punched in the back of the head and kicked to the ground outside the Royal Festival Hall on London’s Southbank.
Mr Hutchinson told Channel 4 News earlier this week: ‘I thought “well if he stays there he’s not gonna make it” so I just went under, scooped him up, put him on my shoulders and sort of started marching towards the police with him.
‘If the other three police officers that were standing around when George Floyd was murdered had thought about intervening, and stopping their colleague from doing what he was doing, like what we did, George Floyd would be alive today still.’
Mr Male, who now works as a delivery driver for Tesco, was unavailable for comment today.
Speaking yesterday to The Sun newspaper, his son Harry, 21, said his dad wanted to thank Mr Hutchinson for carrying him to safety.
A spokesman for the BTP said: ‘We can confirm Bryn Male worked in the London area as a police officer for British Transport Police, latterly as a Detective Constable.
‘He retired from the force in September 2014.’