British police target immigrants in explosive ‘Guerrilla’

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In “Guerrilla,” John Ridley, who created the award-winning ABC anthology series “American Crime,” shifts his focus from stateside society ills to the problems faced by British immigrants in the early 1970s. “Slumdog Millionaire” star Freida Pinto plays Jas Mitra, a nurse’s aide whose boyfriend, Marcus (Babou Ceesay), is an unemployed tutor who can only find work in British prisons. They become radicalized when one of their friends is targeted by police during a demonstration protesting the Immigration Act of 1971, in which citizens of the Commonwealth lost their automatic right to remain in the United Kingdom unless they had lived and worked there for five years. They decide to liberate Dhari (Nathaniel Martello-White), a political prisoner who can help them combat racism. Naturally, they get more than they bargained for, including an encounter with a fugitive Black Panther (Brandon Scott).

A demonstration by London immigrants gets out of control on “Guerrilla.” Sky UK Limited/SHOWTIME

“Guerrilla” also shines a disturbing light on the Black Power Desk, a secretive Special Branch counterintelligence unit within the London police department dedicated to crushing all forms of black activism. Ridley, an Oscar winner for “12 Years a Slave,” spoke to The Post by phone from London about his new series.
Jas has to push Marcus into embracing the radical life. Why the reluctance when he is equally oppressed?
I didn’t want these two to be action heroes. Like they were suddenly embracing violence. You look back on people in any struggle and there may be a time when they find themselves leaders or activists. There’s a moment at the end of the first episode where Dhari is telling Jas what her life is going to be and she literally can’t stomach what she is hearing.
What was the Immigration Act of 1971?
It was a legalese way of trying to differentiate between white and nonwhite immigrants from former colonial nations. People of color were invited to the UK after World War II to help fill the [decimated] labor force. Upon arriving, they were not welcome. There came a point in the late 1960s and early 70s when some people in government wanted to stop immigration for people of color. To oppress certain individuals. Or [have them] not work above a certain level.
Why is there an American Black Panther in the story?
You mean Leroy? He’s a guy on the run. He ends up in a radical cell a bit by happenstance. He finds himself swept up by these individuals. It was fun to have a character who was a version of that.
The Black Power Desk seems truly insidious. What did you find out about it?
There really was this organization. That was their reason for existing: to put pressure on anybody who was radical. Something that was very surprising was how little it was reported. How little it was known. I think it was very quietly over time phased out.