The counter-protester carried to safety by a Black Lives Matter protester last weekend is a former officer at British Transport Police, the force has confirmed.
Bryn Male, who has yet to speak publicly about the events of the weekend that led to Patrick Hutchinson being hailed as a hero, worked in the London area for British Transport Police and was latterly a detective constable.
He retired from the force in September 2014, a spokesperson said.
Male, 55, has been identified as the man pictured clutching his bloodied head as he was carried over the shoulder of Hutchinson, a personal trainer in London.
A delivery driver living in Basingstoke, Hampshire, Male was among football supporters who had travelled to London on the day when BLM protests were due to take place. He is described as a Millwall FC fan on the website of a local village club where he volunteers.
A fellow member of the club said Male was “a patriotic Brit, England through and through”. He told the Daily Mail he had travelled to London to protect monuments after seeing graffiti.
Hutchinson and friends had attended an anti-racism protest in London on Saturday with a view to protecting younger allies from far-right counter protesters. He has told how he stepped in when he became aware of a man involved in a confrontation outside the Southbank Centre at Waterloo.
The 49-year-old has been keen to stress that he protected the counter-protester by working with his four friends – Pierre Noah, 47, Jamaine Facey, 43, Chris Otokito, 37, and Lee Russell, also 37 – who formed a protective ring as Hutchinson moved the man away.
Relatives of Male have reportedly said he would be willing to thank Hutchinson, but there has yet to be any public comment from him.
Hutchinson has told the Guardian he wanted the image of moment in which he and his friends acted to carry the wounded man to safety to be a unifying one.
“I hope it’ll change the minds of those who are sitting on the fence, who aren’t sure about this whole thing. I hope it can galvanise us as human beings and bring us together.”
