More than 90 people were arrested on Saturday, according to the BBC, after riots broke out in several cities in Britain, where anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim protests were organized.
Protesters threw bottles, shops were looted and police were attacked in areas including Liverpool, Bristol, Blackpool and Belfast. Not all protests were violent, however.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to give police forces the government’s “full support” to take action against “extremists” who are trying to “sow hate”.
The riots, the country’s most widespread in 13 years, erupted after three girls were killed in a knife attack at a dance school in north-west England, and false information was then circulated on social media that the suspect in the crime was Muslim extremist who was in Britain illegally.
Police have said the suspect, Axel Rudakubana, 17, was born in Britain, but protests by anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim protesters have continued and escalated into violent incidents.
Riots took place in Liverpool, Bristol, Hull and Belfast – four cities in different corners of the country. Many police officers were injured as they tried to prevent clashes between hundreds of protesters belonging to opposing sides.
Chairs and bricks against police in Liverpool
In Liverpool, protesters threw chairs, bricks and other objects at riot police, an AFP photojournalist said.
Local media also reported riots in Manchester and Belfast, Northern Ireland.
🇬🇧Police are retreating
The British people have had enough
💥 Britain is imploding
🛎️ Follow to Stay Informed #Hull #Stoke #StopTheBoats #SaveOurChildren #TwoTierKeir #Sunderland #Southport #Liverpool #Belfast #UK #Bradford #UniteTheKingdom #EnoughisEnough pic.twitter.com/ciTiWW5LML— Culture War (@CultureWar2020) August 3, 2024
Liverpool riots pic.twitter.com/fg2yyWgIBs
— Goodgurlgonemad (@WithBirdTattoo) August 3, 2024
VIDEO: Starmer’s Britain 🇬🇧: Liverpool pic.twitter.com/CSwPfc6DvF #Liverpool #Manchester #Hull #Starmer #Starmergeddon
— Manchester Chronicle 🐝 (@WithyGrove) August 3, 2024
At noon on Saturday, hundreds of people took part in a counter-demonstration in St George’s Plateau, under the slogan “Don’t let racists divide us”. In the afternoon, far-right protesters taking part in the anti-immigrant, anti-Islam Save Our Children rally met with counter-demonstrators at Pier Head and police intervened, trying to keep the two groups at bay.
The ‘Save Our Children’ protest was organized in response to the murder of three little girls at a Southport dance school, after rumors circulated online that the attacker was a Muslim illegal immigrant. Authorities have announced that the suspect who has been arrested in connection with the crime is a 17-year-old from Banks, Lancashire, who was born in Britain and is of Rwandan descent.
In Manchester, protesters also clashed with police who tried to keep them away from an anti-racism counter-rally, according to the BBC. In Nottingham, police also took a stand between two groups, one shouting anti-immigrant slogans and the other replying “refugees are welcome here,” an AFP correspondent said.
MANCHESTER RIOTS & THIS IS HORRIFIC
All based on lies and misinformation on Xpic.twitter.com/Td8lkXzZ6f
— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) August 3, 2024
MANCHESTER RIOTS & THIS IS HORRIFIC
All based on lies and misinformation on Xpic.twitter.com/Td8lkXzZ6f
— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) August 3, 2024
In Hull, northeast England, protesters smashed the windows of a hotel housing asylum seekers, while in Belfast firecrackers were thrown during a tense standoff between a group of anti-Muslims and a group of anti-racist protesters.
Today’s anti-immigration protests have been organized mainly through social networking sites and promoted by far-right figures such as English Defense League founder and former leader Tommy Robinson. According to a count by the anti-racism organization Hope Not Hate, there were more than 30 calls for demonstrations in Britain this weekend.
Britain’s Muslim community is particularly concerned after the attacks on two mosques in Sunderland and Southport this week.
In London, the pro-Palestinian march that has been organized regularly in the capital in recent months took place as normal, but under heavy police protection. “My parents told me not to come today, but I’m here. The UK is my country,” said one protester, 24-year-old student Meraj Haroun.
Read also
They confidently report – On Sunday in Documento
Telegraph: Mossad recruited Iranian agents to kill Haniya
The economy is in a nut shell – Bell from the Commission on the high external deficit and poor investments
SYRIZA: Let Georgiadis deal with the chaos in the National Social Security and the approximately half a billion that the ND owes to the banks
Tempi: The relatives of the victims erupt for the release of the station master
#Britain #arrests #riots #occurred #antiimmigration #demonstrations #Videos
