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LONDON: Police in the north of England town of Rotherham were struggling to hold back a mob of far-right rioters Sunday who were seeking to break into a hotel believed to be housing asylum-seekers.
Footage from Sky News showed a line of police officers with shields facing a barrage of missiles, including bits of wood, chairs and fire extinguishers, as they sought to prevent the rioters from entering the Holiday Inn Express hotel.A small fire was also visible while windows in the hotel were smashed. A police helicopter circled overhead, and at least one injured officer in riot gear was carried away as the atmosphere turned increasingly febrile.
It was the latest bout of rioting to grip the UK following a stabbing rampage at a dance class last week in the north of England that left three girls dead and several wounded.
Brendan Cox, whose lawmaker wife Jo Cox was murdered by a far-right extremist in 2016, said on X that the scenes in Rotherham “are an ongoing attempt to murder the men, women & children inside by burning them alive.”
Elsewhere, the atmosphere is particularly tense in In the northeast town of Middlesborough, where protesters broke free of a police guard. More demonstrations are taking place around the UK.
On Saturday, far-right activists faced off with anti-racism protesters across the UK, with violent scenes playing out in locations across the UK, from Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, to Liverpool in the northwest of England and Bristol in the west. Around 100 people were arrested but more are likely as police scour CCTV, social media and footage from body-worn cameras.
The violence erupted earlier this week, ostensibly in protest of Monday’s stabbing attack in Southport. A 17-year-old male has been arrested. False rumours spread online that the young man was a Muslim and an immigrant, fuelling anger among far-right supporters. Suspects under 18 are usually not named in the UK, but the judge ordered Axel Rudakubana, born in Wales to Rwandan parents, to be identified, in part to stop the spread of misinformation. Police said many of the actions are being organised online by shadowy far-right groups, who are mobilising support online with phrases like “enough is enough,” “save our kids” and “stop the boats”. They are tapping into concerns about the scale of immigration in the country.
A key player amplifying protest calls is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, a longtime far-right agitator who uses the name Tommy Robinson. He led the English Defense League, which police has linked to the violent protest in Southport Tuesday. The group first appeared around 2009, leading a series of protests against what it described as militant Islam. ap
Footage from Sky News showed a line of police officers with shields facing a barrage of missiles, including bits of wood, chairs and fire extinguishers, as they sought to prevent the rioters from entering the Holiday Inn Express hotel.A small fire was also visible while windows in the hotel were smashed. A police helicopter circled overhead, and at least one injured officer in riot gear was carried away as the atmosphere turned increasingly febrile.
It was the latest bout of rioting to grip the UK following a stabbing rampage at a dance class last week in the north of England that left three girls dead and several wounded.
Brendan Cox, whose lawmaker wife Jo Cox was murdered by a far-right extremist in 2016, said on X that the scenes in Rotherham “are an ongoing attempt to murder the men, women & children inside by burning them alive.”
Elsewhere, the atmosphere is particularly tense in In the northeast town of Middlesborough, where protesters broke free of a police guard. More demonstrations are taking place around the UK.
On Saturday, far-right activists faced off with anti-racism protesters across the UK, with violent scenes playing out in locations across the UK, from Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, to Liverpool in the northwest of England and Bristol in the west. Around 100 people were arrested but more are likely as police scour CCTV, social media and footage from body-worn cameras.
The violence erupted earlier this week, ostensibly in protest of Monday’s stabbing attack in Southport. A 17-year-old male has been arrested. False rumours spread online that the young man was a Muslim and an immigrant, fuelling anger among far-right supporters. Suspects under 18 are usually not named in the UK, but the judge ordered Axel Rudakubana, born in Wales to Rwandan parents, to be identified, in part to stop the spread of misinformation. Police said many of the actions are being organised online by shadowy far-right groups, who are mobilising support online with phrases like “enough is enough,” “save our kids” and “stop the boats”. They are tapping into concerns about the scale of immigration in the country.
A key player amplifying protest calls is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, a longtime far-right agitator who uses the name Tommy Robinson. He led the English Defense League, which police has linked to the violent protest in Southport Tuesday. The group first appeared around 2009, leading a series of protests against what it described as militant Islam. ap
