Karen vividly remembers the day she picked up a brick and became disorderly.
“I went out and attacked the police. We were fed up. Things had to change,” she said.
It was 1981 and Liverpool was on fire. A series of riots was sparked in part by long-standing tensions between local police and the black community. Karen was just 16 years old.
All these years later, she ended up facing a wave of protests planned by largely far-right groups who intend to target places linked to immigration.
“What we did back then was different. You can’t compare the riots then to the stupid thugs who want to destroy our communities now.”
I meet Karen outside the Asylum Center in Liverpool, which appeared on a list of places where the far right intends to demonstrate outside. It is part of a nationwide series of protests that have prepared Britain for trouble.
Karen worries that these groups only want to cause harm. And she won’t let that happen on her doorstep.
“These people may try to cause trouble here, but we will send them back,” she said.
“We will not allow this. We are a proud and diverse community and we will protect this building.”
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It’s mid-afternoon and everyone is nervous. The asylum center is housed in a former church and helps refugees and asylum seekers apply for residency in the UK, often because they have fled violence or persecution in their own country.
The windows were boarded up and the doors were locked. If problems arise, central manager Ewan Roberts fears the worst.
“My fear is that things will break that we can’t fix. That could be trust or it could be a crucial part of the building. We also can’t afford to lose.
“We’ve worked hard for years to turn this charity into something that actually helps people. And some people want to come here and take it all away.”
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As the afternoon gives way to early evening, the police presence slowly increases.
A few police vans block each end of the road and about 50 officers dressed in riot gear line up watching the crowd slowly begin to gather.
But something unexpected happens. The feared arrival of the extreme right does not materialize.
Instead, the road is lined with residents, religious groups and other volunteers. Their banners read “refugees are welcome here” and “grandparents against racism”.
Laila says the community is tired of being scared
Laila, a 28-year-old woman dressed in a hijab and a beige cape, stops to talk to me.
“A lot of people in the community feel a lot of anger, a lot of fear,” she says.
“The feeling in the community is that they have had enough. That’s why a lot of them came out.”
And they came out by the hundreds.
They prepared for a night of trouble, but in the end it was a rather peaceful night.
An asylum center surrounded not by those who wish him harm, but by those determined to protect him.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
