Police in the northern English city of Rotherham struggled to hold back a group of far-right activists on Sunday, who broke into a hotel believed to be housing asylum-seekers.
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The disturbance is the latest in a series of violent protests by anti-immigration groups in British towns and cities this week after three girls were killed in a knife attack in Southport in northwest England on Monday.>
What happened in Rotherham?
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Footage aired on British TV showed officers with shields targeted by a barrage of projectiles outside the Holiday Inn Express hotel in Rotherham, near Sheffield.>
A few minutes later, the protesters can be seen storming the building and removing chairs from inside to use as weapons.
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A small fire was also visible while windows in the hotel were smashed.>
At least one officer was injured in the confrontation.>
Late Sunday, Staffordshire police said another hotel known to have sheltered asylum-seekers was targeted near Birmingham.>
“A large group of individuals” have been “throwing projectiles, smashing windows, starting fires and targeting police” at the hotel in the town of Tamworth, with one officer injured, said the statement.
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There were more anti-immigration protests and counter-demonstrations elsewhere, including the northeastern city of Middlesborough, where officers used police dogs to control the crowd.>
In the cities of Liverpool, Bolton and Southport — where the mass stabbing took place — the police were granted the right to issue dispersal orders, allowing them to stop protests from taking place on Sunday.>
UK PM says far-right rioters will ‘regret’ actions>
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the attack on hotels housing asylum-seekers and described it as “far-right thuggery.”
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“We will do whatever it takes to bring these thugs to justice,” said Starmer.>
“These thugs are mobile, they move from community to community, and we must have a police response that can do the same.”>
“Mosques being attacked because they’re mosques — the far-right are showing who they are. We have to show who we are in response to that.”
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Britain’s Home Secretary (or interior minister) Yvette Cooper called the “criminal, violent attack” on the hotel “utterly appalling: Deliberately setting fire to a building with people known to be inside.”>
She said police had “full Government support for the strongest action against those responsible.”>
Dozens arrested during Saturday’s riots
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Close to 100 people were arrested after skirmishes broke out at far-right rallies in Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Blackpool and Hull, as well as Belfast in Northern Ireland on Saturday.>
In Liverpool, in the northwest, protesters threw chairs, flares and bricks at police officers. Manchester also saw clashes between officers and rioters.>
In the city of Hull, protesters broke windows of a hotel that was housing migrants, the BBC reported.>
In Belfast, fireworks were thrown due to a clash between an anti-Islam group and anti-racism protesters.>
Opposing groups also faced off in the cities of Nottingham and Bristol.>
In Leeds, anti-immigration protesters carrying British flags chanted, “You’re not English anymore.” They were met with counter-protesters shouting, “Nazi scum off our streets.”>
On Friday, Sunderland saw violence erupt as a police station and an overturned car were set on fire.>
In London, a pro-Palestinian demonstration was carried out as usual despite counterprotesting nearby.>
Why did the riots break out?>
The riots began last week due to misinformation over a mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party at a studio in Southport, a seaside town in northwest England.>
Three children were killed in the knife attack, and 10 other people — eight of whom were children — were injured.>
A 17-year-old boy, Axel Rudakubana, has been charged with several offences, including the girls’ murder, which happened during a Taylor Swift-themed workshop.>
Rudakubana is accused of killing Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, and injuring another 10 people.>
Since the Southport attack, far-right social media channels have been awash with false claims that the suspect was an asylum-seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat.>
Police have emphasised that Rudakubana was born in Britain.>
He was remanded to a youth detention centre and will next appear in court in October.>
The unrest is seen as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s first major test after joining office less than a month ago. He has condemned the violence and said thugs were “hijacking” the nation’s grief.>
Police believe the English Defence League, an anti-Islam organisation, is behind the violence. Anti-racism campaign group Hope Not Hate says it has identified 30 more such events set to take place over the weekend.>
This article was originally published on DW.>
