Far-right protesters storm hotel housing migrants – DW – 04/08/2024

Police in the northern English town of Rotherham struggled to contain a group of far-right activists on Sunday who stormed a hotel believed to be housing asylum seekers.

The disturbance is the latest in a series of violent protests by anti-immigration groups in British cities this week, after three girls were killed in a knife attack in Southport, northwest England, on Monday.

What happened in Rotherham?

Footage shown on British television showed police with shields being targeted by a hail of projectiles outside the Holiday Inn Express hotel in Rotherham, near Sheffield.

A few minutes later, protesters can be seen storming the building and removing chairs from inside to use as weapons.

A small fire was also visible as hotel windows were broken.

At least one police officer was injured in the confrontation.

British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called the “criminal and violent attack” on the hotel “utterly shocking: deliberately setting fire to a building with people known to be inside.”

She said police had the “full support of the government to take stronger action against those responsible”.

Several other anti-immigration protests were expected to take place on Sunday, along with counter-demonstrations, including in the northeastern town of Middlesborough, where police used police dogs to control the crowd.

In the cities of Liverpool, Bolton and Southport — where the mass stabbing took place — police were given the right to issue dispersal orders, allowing them to prevent protests from taking place on Sunday.

Dozens of people were arrested during Saturday’s riots

Around 100 people were arrested after clashes at far-right protests 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. Manchester also saw clashes between police and protesters.

In the city of Hull, protesters smashed windows at a hotel housing migrants, the BBC reported.

In Belfast, fireworks were set off following a clash between an anti-Islam group and anti-racism protesters.

Opposing groups also clashed in the cities of Nottingham and Bristol.

In Leeds, anti-immigration protesters carrying British flags chanted: “You are not English any more.” They were met by counter-protesters shouting: “Nazi scum, off our streets.”

On Friday, Sunderland saw violence erupt when a police station and an overturned car were set alight.

In London, a pro-Palestinian demonstration went ahead as usual, despite counter-protests nearby.

Why did the riots break out?

The riots began last week over misinformation about 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 multiple crimes, including the murder of the girls, which took place 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 10 others.

Since the attack in Southport, far-right social media channels have been flooded with false claims that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat.

Police stressed that Rudakubana was born in Britain.

He was booked into a juvenile detention center and will appear in court in October.

The unrest is seen as Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s first major test after taking office less than a month ago. He has condemned the violence and said thugs were “hijacking” the nation’s grief.

“The government supports the police in taking all necessary measures to keep our streets safe,” a statement from Starmer’s office said.

Police believe the English Defence League, an anti-Islam organisation, is behind the organisation of the violence. Anti-racism campaign group Hope Not Hate says it has identified 30 more such events scheduled to take place over the weekend.

mm, tg/msh (dpa, AFP, AP, Reuters)