More than 150 arrested in violent protests in several British cities
Clashes took place on Sunday for the fifth consecutive day. As seen in footage broadcast by the BBC, masked protesters in the central English town of Rotherham smashed the windows of a hotel that had previously housed asylum seekers. According to local police, ten officers were injured during the incident.
In the northeast English city of Middlesbrough, hundreds of people gathered opposite riot police. Some of them threw bricks, cans, and bottles at the officers. An AFP team's camera was also destroyed. In Aldershot, southwest of London, dozens of people gathered peacefully to protest against asylum seekers, according to an AFP photographer.
Protests also took place on Saturday in Liverpool, Hull, Leeds, and Belfast. In some cases, protesters threw bricks, bottles, and fireworks at the police, injuring several officers. Under slogans against Islam, rioters looted and burned down shops. There were also clashes with counter-protesters.
The violence erupted following a knife attack by a 17-year-old in the coastal town of Southport, near Liverpool, where three children were killed and eight others, along with two adults, were injured. The suspect entered a building where a summer dance class for children to Taylor Swift's music was taking place.
The attack shocked the UK. Speculations and misinformation about the suspect's background, whose family is reportedly from Rwanda, quickly spread online.
Immediately after the incident, around a hundred far-right extremists in Southport went on a rampage, attacking a mosque among other targets. Later, riots broke out in other cities. After violent protests at the seat of Prime Minister Starmer in London's Downing Street, many people were arrested. Hundreds of mosques in the UK tightened their security measures.
Police blamed supporters of the English Defence League, an anti-Islam organization founded 15 years ago with links to the hooligan scene, for the violence. Online media channels associated with the far-right promoted the protests under the slogan "Enough is enough". At the events, people waved the British and English flags and chanted slogans like "Stop the boats" - a reference to migrants crossing the English Channel.
In numerous cities, people organized anti-fascist counter-protests. In Leeds, for example, protesters chanted slogans like "Nazi scum off our streets".
On Sunday, representatives of several religious communities in Liverpool issued a joint statement calling for calm and unity.
These are the worst riots in the UK since the 2011 protests following the police shooting of black family man Mark Duggan in north London. "We've had unrest and disturbances like this before, but they were contained to specific areas of the country," said Tiffany Lynch of the Police Federation for England and Wales to the BBC.
The British government declared that it would provide the police with "all necessary means". The entire justice system is ready to "impose sentences as quickly as possible", said Justice Minister Shabana Mahmood. The minister responsible for the police, Diana Johnson, said on Sunday to BBC News that the riots would "not be tolerated", instead there would be "penalties and consequences". The government will do everything necessary to bring the rioters to justice.
For Prime Minister Starmer, the riots, just a month after his inauguration, represent the first political crisis - all the more so because his Labour Party was repeatedly accused during the election campaign of being too lenient on immigration issues.
On Sunday, Starmer addressed the nation. "I assure you, you will regret it if you participate in these riots. Whether you participate directly or if you incite these actions online and then run away", said Starmer. There is "no justification whatsoever" for this "far-right hooliganism", the culprits will "be brought to justice".
The opposition criticized the Labour government in the face of the protests. On the online service X, the former Conservative Home Secretary Priti Patel wrote that the government risks being "overwhelmed by events instead of controlling them". The anti-immigration party Reform UK accused Labour of being "too soft on criminals".
The Commission expressed its concern over the escalating violence and the spread of misinformation, calling for peaceful protests and unity in the face of such tragedies. Subsequently, The Commission initiated an investigation into the role of extremist groups in orchestrating the riots.
