Riots broke out in Britain after a series of stabbings in the northwestern English city of Southport in late July, which left three young girls dead and many others injured.
Far-right commentators have contributed to the spread of misinformation, suggesting that the 17-year-old suspect arrested in the incident was a Muslim asylum seeker.
Anti-racism protests on August 10 (local time) attracted thousands of people, aiming to protest against the wave of riots in several cities.
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Crowds of protesters gathered in London, Glasgow, Belfast, Manchester and other British towns and cities for the second time in just a week. Clashes between protesters and anti-immigration agitators fortunately did not occur.
In London, hundreds gathered outside the offices of Nigel Farage’s UK Reform Party before marching to Parliament. The Brexit architect and other far-right figures have been accused of fomenting the riots through anti-immigrant rhetoric.
In the north-east city of Newcastle, shopkeepers were forced to shore up their stores to protect their properties from far-right protesters. Police dispersed a small group of anti-immigration protesters at the city’s famous Bigg Market and a larger group nearby.
In Scotland, hundreds of anti-racism protesters gathered outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh and George Square in Glasgow.
In Belfast (Northern Ireland), 15,000 people attended a protest organized by the Anti-Racism Alliance. Many carried banners with messages of support for immigrants. A mosque in the town of East Belfast was attacked with petrol bombs.
* On the same day, August 10, according to Reuters, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer canceled his planned vacation next week to focus on dealing with the riots.
Thousands of police remain on duty throughout the weekend in case violence flares up again.
Prime Minister Starmer’s government has moved swiftly to speed up the process of processing those arrested and charged in connection with the riots.
On August 9, authorities said there had been 741 arrests since the unrest began and 302 people had been charged. British police said the arrests could last for months.
At least two people have been sentenced to prison in recent days for inciting racial hatred in social media messages.
Defendant Jordan Parlour, 28, was sentenced to 20 months in prison. Previously, through Facebook posts, this subject supported far-right elements to attack the Britannia Hotel used as a temporary shelter for more than 200 asylum seekers in the city of Leeds. Defendant Tyler Kay, 26, living in Northampton, was sentenced to 6 years and 2 months in prison for social media posts calling for the burning of hotels providing temporary shelter for asylum seekers and the deportation of all immigrants. The actions of these two subjects are said to have contributed to sparking dozens of far-right protests in more than 20 cities and towns across the UK over the past 10 days.
