// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
RNLI volunteers facing 'unacceptable' abuse, chief says
RNLI chief Peter Sparkes said there had been "deliberate misinformation" about the charity
RNLI staff have faced "unacceptable" online and physical abuse since anti-migrant protests at the weekend, the charity's chief executive has said.
On Sunday, police faced off with demonstrators who blocked roads in Portsmouth in an effort to stop 140 people who arrived at the Eastney Landing ferry port area with the RNLI's assistance.
Chief executive Peter Sparkes said the abuse of volunteers was "wholly unacceptable in a civilised society".
He said there had been "deliberate misinformation and a misunderstanding" about the charity, and condemned threats by "those who would hide behind a balaclava or a keyboard".
The protest in Portsmouth followed a separate demonstration the previous day, in which hundreds of masked "stop the boats" protesters brought the Port of Dover to a standstill.
Footage was subsequently posted on social media showing volunteers of the Poole-based charity labelled as "traitors".
Hundreds of people protested in Portsmouth after migrants were brought ashore on Sunday
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Sparkes said: "Recent events have generated deliberate misinformation and a misunderstanding about the RNLI – our purpose, our tasking, and particularly our lifesaving work in the Channel.
"Sadly, as a result, some of our volunteers and staff have been the subject of online and, in the worst cases, physical abuse.