Madrid. An undetermined number of police officers have been injured in the riots that took place on Saturday during the protests by far-right groups that have been planned for the whole weekend in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, the authorities warn that there will be a firm response to any act of violence.
The protests, called by far-right and anti-immigration groups, have their origins in the attack by a 17-year-old boy falsely identified as an immigrant who killed three girls in the town of Southport, near Liverpool, on Monday. Anti-fascist counter-demonstrations have been held in many places.
At these far-right demonstrations, bottles have been thrown, shop windows have been smashed and there have been physical clashes with police. Islamophobic and anti-immigration slogans have also been chanted.
In Liverpool, one police officer was hit in the head with a brick and another was kicked to the ground while riding a motorbike on the city’s riverside. Meanwhile, several hundred anti-fascists chanted slogans such as “Refugees are welcome here” and “Nazi scum, get off our streets.”
Riots have also occurred in other places such as Hull, Manchester and Blackpool. Demonstrations have been peaceful in Sunderland, Hartlepool, Aldershot and London.
British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has warned that anyone involved in “unacceptable disorder” will be held accountable. She is working with police forces to ensure “consequences, arrests and charges”.
Those involved in such violence could be “locked up” or subject to travel bans, Cooper warned, stressing that there is “enough” prison space.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office has explained that the police have their “full support” in responding to “extremists” of “hate”.
Response from the authorities
British government ministers held a video conference meeting on Saturday to discuss the protests after Starmer announced the creation of a new police unit to deal with violent unrest.
Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, the Prime Minister criticised a “tiny, senseless minority in our society” who had forced a “grieving” community in Southport to “suffer twice as much” when they staged a demonstration following the attack.
All this comes after a night of riots in Sunderland, in the north of England, where protesters attacked a police office, setting fire to the neighbouring building, while clashing “at serious and sustained levels of violence” with security forces, against whom they threw cans and stones at the doors of a mosque, according to the British broadcaster BBC.
In light of this “deplorable” situation, local police authorities have advised “citizens to avoid the area while officers deal with the situation.” “We want to make it absolutely clear that the disorder, violence and damage that has occurred will not be tolerated. The safety of citizens is our top priority,” the statement added.
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– 2024-08-06 16:01:07
