diff --git a/contrib/scripts/kick_users.py b/contrib/scripts/kick_users.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..5dfaec3ad0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/scripts/kick_users.py
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+from argparse import ArgumentParser
+import json
+import requests
+import sys
+import urllib
+
+def _mkurl(template, kws):
+    for key in kws:
+        template = template.replace(key, kws[key])
+    return template
+
+def main(hs, room_id, access_token, user_id_prefix, why):
+    if not why:
+        why = "Automated kick."
+    print "Kicking members on %s in room %s matching %s" % (hs, room_id, user_id_prefix)
+    room_state_url = _mkurl(
+        "$HS/_matrix/client/api/v1/rooms/$ROOM/state?access_token=$TOKEN",
+        {
+            "$HS": hs,
+            "$ROOM": room_id,
+            "$TOKEN": access_token
+        }
+    )
+    print "Getting room state => %s" % room_state_url
+    res = requests.get(room_state_url)
+    print "HTTP %s" % res.status_code
+    state_events = res.json()
+    if "error" in state_events:
+        print "FATAL"
+        print state_events
+        return
+
+    kick_list = []
+    room_name = room_id
+    for event in state_events:
+        if not event["type"] == "m.room.member":
+            if event["type"] == "m.room.name":
+                room_name = event["content"].get("name")
+            continue
+        if not event["content"].get("membership") == "join":
+            continue
+        if event["state_key"].startswith(user_id_prefix):
+            kick_list.append(event["state_key"])
+
+    if len(kick_list) == 0:
+        print "No user IDs match the prefix '%s'" % user_id_prefix
+        return
+
+    print "The following user IDs will be kicked from %s" % room_name
+    for uid in kick_list:
+        print uid
+    doit = raw_input("Continue? [Y]es\n")
+    if len(doit) > 0 and doit.lower() == 'y':
+        print "Kicking members..."
+        # encode them all
+        kick_list = [urllib.quote(uid) for uid in kick_list]
+        for uid in kick_list:
+            kick_url = _mkurl(
+                "$HS/_matrix/client/api/v1/rooms/$ROOM/state/m.room.member/$UID?access_token=$TOKEN",
+                {
+                    "$HS": hs,
+                    "$UID": uid,
+                    "$ROOM": room_id,
+                    "$TOKEN": access_token
+                }
+            )
+            kick_body = {
+                "membership": "leave",
+                "reason": why
+            }
+            print "Kicking %s" % uid
+            res = requests.put(kick_url, data=json.dumps(kick_body))
+            if res.status_code != 200:
+                print "ERROR: HTTP %s" % res.status_code
+            if res.json().get("error"):
+                print "ERROR: JSON %s" % res.json()
+            
+    
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    parser = ArgumentParser("Kick members in a room matching a certain user ID prefix.")
+    parser.add_argument("-u","--user-id",help="The user ID prefix e.g. '@irc_'")
+    parser.add_argument("-t","--token",help="Your access_token")
+    parser.add_argument("-r","--room",help="The room ID to kick members in")
+    parser.add_argument("-s","--homeserver",help="The base HS url e.g. http://matrix.org")
+    parser.add_argument("-w","--why",help="Reason for the kick. Optional.")
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+    if not args.room or not args.token or not args.user_id or not args.homeserver:
+        parser.print_help()
+        sys.exit(1)
+    else:
+        main(args.homeserver, args.room, args.token, args.user_id, args.why)