Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the far right for the riots and backed the police to take strong action.
Far-right protesters clashed with police at several rallies as unrest linked to misinformation about the murder of three young men in a knife attack spread across the UK.
Riots involving hundreds of far-right anti-immigration protesters have broken out in several cities in recent days after false information spread quickly on social media that the suspect in Monday’s knife attack at a children’s dance class in Southport was a Muslim immigrant.
Police said the suspect, Axel Rudakubana, 17, was born in Cardiff, Wales, but protests by anti-immigration and anti-Muslim protesters continued, culminating in violence and riots, including in the northeastern city of Sunderland. on Friday night.
Protesters threw chairs, rockets and bricks at police in the northwestern English city of Liverpool, while clashes between police and protesters broke out in neighboring Manchester.
Merseyside Police said “a number of officers were injured whilst dealing with serious disturbances” in Liverpool city centre.
In Belfast, Northern Ireland, fireworks were launched amid tense dialogues between an anti-Muslim group and an anti-racism demonstration.
Some businesses in the city reported material damage.
“I have no reason why they attacked us,” said Rahmi Akyol, outside his Belfast cafe, whose glass doors were smashed after he was attacked by dozens of people who threw bottles and chairs.
“I’ve lived here for 35 years. My children, my wife is from here. I do not know what to say; It’s terrible,” he said.
In Leeds, approximately 150 people carrying English flags chanted: “You are not English anymore”, while counter-protesters shouted “Nazi scum off our streets”. Groups of opposition protesters also clashed in Nottingham city center.
Authorities in the eastern city of Hull said four people were arrested and three police officers were injured while dealing with protests where bottles were thrown.
At protests in London, police arrested several people, including one for giving a Nazi salute to a counter-protester.
Mosques across the country have been advised to beef up security, while police have deployed additional officers.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, facing his first major test since being elected a month ago, condemned the “far right” for the violence and backed the police to take strong action.
Starmer spoke to senior ministers on Saturday and said there was “no excuse for violence” at the protests.
The last time widespread violence broke out in the UK was in 2011, when thousands of people took to the streets for five nights after police shot and killed a black man in London.
On Friday night, hundreds of anti-immigration protesters in Sunderland threw stones at police in riot gear near a mosque, before overturning vehicles, setting a car on fire and starting a fire near a police station.
Four injured police officers were taken to hospital and 12 people were arrested, Mark Hall, chief superintendent of Sunderland area police, told reporters on Saturday.
“This was not a protest. It was unforgivable violence and disorder,” Hall said.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
