Far-right protesters vandalized a hotel housing asylum seekers in the northern English town of Rotherham as the UK grapples with its worst riots in 13 years.
On Sunday, hundreds of people gathered at a Holiday Inn Express hotel that used to house asylum seekers near Rotherham, before throwing bricks at police and breaking several hotel windows, then setting rubbish bins on fire.
Footage from British broadcaster Sky News showed a line of police with shields facing a barrage of missiles, including pieces of wood, chairs and fire extinguishers, as they tried to prevent protesters from entering the hotel.
A police helicopter flew overhead and at least one injured officer in riot gear was taken away as the atmosphere became increasingly feverish.
The unrest is the latest wave of UK unrest to grip the country following a stabbing attack at a dance class last week in northern England that left three girls dead and several injured.
According to police officers, false rumors spread online that the young man responsible for the Southport stabbing was Muslim and an immigrant, fueling anger among the country’s far right.
Speaking on Sunday, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said there was “no justification” for far-right violence, which has led to attacks on mosques and attacks on Muslims and ethnic minorities.
“People in this country have a right to be safe, but we have seen Muslim communities targeted by attacks and attacks on mosques,” Starmer said.
The Prime Minister added that “he will not hesitate to call him [the rioting] what it is” and that is “far-right violence”.
“For those who feel attacked because of the color of their skin or their faith, I know how scary that must be,” he said.
“I want them to know that this violent mob does not represent this country and that we will bring them to justice.”
Starmer has been criticized by some for not being vocal enough in denouncing the explicitly racist and Islamophobic nature of some of the attacks committed by protesters.
Zarah Sultana, a Labor MP who is currently suspended from the party for voting against the government, appealed on social media for Parliament to be brought out of its summer recess.
This is the moment protesters set the grass on fire in Rotherham, with police holding the line in front of them.
Protesters were also breaking into a Holiday Inn hotel and throwing items at police.
Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/TgQI0AWSyD
-Sky News (@SkyNews) August 4, 2024
Xenophobic rhetoric
Elsewhere in the UK, the atmosphere has also been particularly tense. In the northeastern city of Middlesborough, protesters broke free from a police guard. When protests began in Bolton, near Manchester, police said a dispersal notice had been authorized to give officers additional powers to tackle anti-social behaviour.
Law enforcement officials said many of the actions are being organized online by shadowy far-right groups, who are mobilizing support online with phrases such as “enough,” “save our children” and “stop the boats.” They are exploring a narrative – amplified by media outlets and right-wing commentators – about the scale of immigration into the country, in particular the tens of thousands of migrants and refugees arriving in small boats across the English Channel from France.
Critics have repeatedly highlighted that the spread of misinformation and amplification of xenophobic rhetoric about immigrants and minority communities in the UK has led to the current outbreak of violence.
Rosa Freedman, a professor at the University of Reading, told Al Jazeera that the riots in the UK are a result of the former Conservative government, which lost power last month, giving legitimacy to a small minority of “racists”.
“Instead of hiding their faces, they are now revealing themselves… we cannot blame a Labor Party that [only] was in government [for] the last four weeks,” she said.
“There is a conversation that needs to be had in the UK and other countries about immigration…. we also need to approach this from a human rights perspective.”
Police noted that calls for riots came from a diffuse group of social media accounts, but a key player in their amplification is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, a former far-right agitator who goes by the name Tommy Robinson.
He led the English Defense League, which Merseyside Police linked to the violent protest in Southport on Tuesday, the day after the knife attack. Yaxley-Lennon, 41, was arrested for assault, contempt of court and mortgage fraud and is currently facing a warrant for his arrest after leaving the UK last week ahead of a scheduled hearing in contempt of court proceedings against him.
Meanwhile, Nigel Farage, who was elected to Parliament in July for the first time as leader of Reform UK, has also been accused by many of encouraging – indirectly – the anti-immigration sentiment that has been evident in recent days.
While condemning the violence, Farage criticized the government for blaming it on “a few far-right thugs” and saying “the far right is a reaction to fear… shared by tens of millions of people”.
The anti-far-right group Hope Not Hate condemned the framing of the protests as “spots of legitimate anger.”
“They are not. This is racist violence fueled by far-right hatred,” the group said in a statement. “Those directly involved in these horrific scenes need to face the full force of the law.”
“Responsibility also lies with those who promoted and defended these riots, like Tommy Robinson. This explosion of racist violence across the country is the result of years of far-right unrest,” the group said. “However, these events are also the result of a climate of anti-Muslim and anti-asylum seeker hostility, fueled by elements in our media and supposedly mainstream politicians.”
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
