Protesters set fire to and stormed hotels used to house asylum seekers in northern England as the country grapples with its worst social unrest in years.
The violence was sparked by the stabbing of three young girls in Southport, North West England, earlier this week. The far right took advantage and spread a wave of misinformation, including false claims that the attacker was an immigrant, to mobilize anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant protests. Police say the suspect was born in the UK.
Footage geolocated by CNN shows protesters vandalizing and setting fire to two Holiday Inns in northern England on August 4: one in Tamworth, which had previously been criticized by a local politician for housing asylum seekers , and the other in Rotherham.
According to local authorities in Tamworth, protesters threw bombs, smashed windows and lit fires, injuring one police officer. Meanwhile, in Rotherham, protesters threw wooden boards, used fire extinguishers at police officers, set fire to objects near the hotel and broke windows to enter the building, police said.
At the time, the Rotherham hotel was "full of horrified residents and staff", Assistant Chief Inspector Lindsay Butterfield said in a statement.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the weekend's violent protests, which have seen at least 147 people arrested since Saturday night. He warned that those involved in the violence will face the full force of the law.
"People in this country have a right to be safe and yet we have witnessed attacks on Muslim communities, on mosques, on other minority communities, Nazi salutes in the streets, attacks on the police, senseless violence alongside racist rhetoric. So that no, I'm not going to bother calling it what it is," Starmer said in Downing Street on Sunday.
Referring to the scenes of violence in Rotherham, Starmer described "marauding gangs intent on breaking the law" and stressed that the thugs did not "represent our country". The UK's home secretary said that far-right rebels who had caused trouble would be dealt with in a "fast-track" manner, but added that there was no need to use the army.
Speaking to the BBC, Diana Johnson stressed the plan was to make swift arrests and charges to remove troublemakers as quickly as possible and act as a deterrent to prevent further disorder.
The violent unrest is the worst since riots in 2011 and poses a huge challenge to Starmer's Labor government just weeks after it won power.
The possibility of bringing in the military to assist the police was discussed, but at this time "there is no need to bring in the military," Johnson said. "The police have made it very clear that they have all the resources they need at the moment. 'There is mutual aid, as I have just described, and they have the powers they need.'
The UK Home Office has announced that UK mosques will be given "greater protection with new emergency security measures" in light of the latest attacks.
Under the new regulations, "police, local authorities and mosques can request the rapid deployment of security to protect communities and allow a return to worship as quickly as possible," the interior ministry said. | BGNES
