POLICE Scotland have ended more than 36 hours of silence on an operation conducted in a derelict Glasgow care home which had become the focus of anti-immigration protests.
The site, on Denmark Street in the Possilpark area of the city, had become a focus for far-right agitators after an online rumour said that it was set to be converted into accommodation for asylum seekers.
On Friday last week, Glasgow Council issued a statement condemning the “false information” that “can cause damage to Glasgow's communities”, highlighting that a planning application had been submitted to bring it back into use as a care home.
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However, there were anti-immigration protests outside the derelict building on Saturday, which saw a banner from the neo-Nazi group Patriotic Alternative unfurled and claims that asylum seekers were already being housed there.
On Sunday, there were further demonstrations at the Denmark Street site after locals alleged that police vans had been brought in to remove people from the derelict building. Residents told The National that police vehicles had been on site for around four hours and, although they did not see anyone being removed, they suspected that is what the force had been doing.
Police Scotland remained silent through all of Monday despite repeated requests from this outlet and others to know the purpose of their operation at the site the previous day.
The force finally issued a statement on Tuesday morning saying that three people had been found inside the building “working”, but that they had all been arrested for “unrelated matters”.
Police Scotland did not say what the arrests were for, or if they were immigration related.
A spokesperson for the force said: "We received a report relating to people within a building in the Possilpark area of Glasgow on Sunday, 12 July, 2026.
"Officers attended and people working on site were found within, all of whom were subsequently arrested in connection with unrelated matters.
"A further group of people gathered and later dispersed.
"The three men arrested were aged 39, 29 and 23. They remain in custody and enquiries are ongoing."
