Reform MS deletes post saying mentally ill Black man on crutches ‘shouldn’t be here’

Emily Price

A Reform MS has deleted a social media post in which he labelled a Black man on crutches, who appeared to be experiencing a mental health crisis, a “fighting-age” migrant from the “third world” who “shouldn’t be here”.

Caerdydd Penarth MS Joe Martin posted Ring Doorbell footage to Facebook on Monday afternoon (October 19) saying it had been sent to him by a “friend”.

The video showed the man walking down a residential street on crutches before stopping and appearing to argue with his own shadow.

Captioning the video, Martin wrote: “Footage from a friend of mine.

“A migrant right outside their house having a full-blown argument with himself at 12pm.

“I feel bad for the guy, but he shouldn’t be here.

“We’re importing mentally unwell fighting age males from the third world and it’s making people feel unsafe.

“When will it end?”

The video was available to view on Martin’s Facebook page for a few hours before it was deleted.

Before the post was removed, it was liked by Reform’s former Welsh leader Dan Thomas, Gŵyr Abertawe MS Francesca O’Brien, and Afan Ogwr Rhondda MS Benjamin Hodge Mckenna.

It is not known why Martin deleted the video.

It comes after the Reform MS deleted a separate video he made suggesting a 75-year-old woman from the Philippines was draining British taxpayers money.

Martin was accused of twisting the truth about the woman who had praised the UK’s free healthcare system, contrasting it with her experience in the Philippines, during an interview with a GB News reporter.

Right-wing commentators accused the woman of moving to the UK to take advantage of free healthcare and welfare without contributing to the system.

However, it later emerged that the pensioner had lived in the UK for decades, spending most of her working life at a British university and paying substantial taxes before retiring.

In September, Martin also criticised a Black man he claimed was homeless, alleging that the man had approached his car in Birmingham to ask for money.

The Reform MS took a photo of the man as he walked away and shared it to Facebook saying he was from “sub-Saharan Africa” and “homeless in a foreign land”.

Martin claimed the man could not “speak the language”, despite saying he had asked him for money.

He did not explain how he established the man’s background, immigration status or housing situation during their brief exchange.

Last month, the Reform MS, who also serves in the group’s shadow cabinet, was reprimanded by the Senedd’s Llywydd after he branded clinicians working at Wales’ gender service as “butchers” and “liars” that should be jailed.

In June, he sparked a walkout by rival politicians when he joked about Welsh children being unable to read and claimed nurses were signing up for universal credit because their jobs were being handed to workers from India.

Martin was rebuked by the Senedd’s Llywydd the same morning for making derogatory remarks about Sudanese asylum seekers the day before.

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