Far-right protesters clashed with police for a second evening on Wednesday, as a large demonstration took place outside Downing Street and near the Cenotaph.
Chants of “Rule Britannia” and “you’re not English any more’’ were directed at police were along Whitehall, as several hundred people gathered in the wake of the tragic knife attack and subsequent riots in Southport earlier this week.
Hundreds of officers kitted in riot gear lined the street around the Cenotaph, tackling the occasional protester to the ground as violent confrontations broke out.
Riot police detained a number of violent protesters, after the Metropolitan Police set out public order conditions for the protest badged ‘Enough is Enough’.
When one woman was detained, shouts of “traitors” could be heard amongst the crowd, alongside cries of “how many kids?”.
The angry mob had gathered at 7pm on Wednesday after news of the demonstration had circulated on social media.
A police helicopter circled overhead as beer bottles and flares were thrown in central London over the course of two hours, with Winston Churchill’s statue and the Downing Street gates targeted.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed that 100 people were arrested at the protest.
Independent media bloggers were seen livestreaming to the event while push backs against the police were met with loud jeers.
Elsewhere, four people were also arrested following a protest in Hartlepool after hurling eggs and bottles at police.
Videos on social media show a crowd of people in a street, with one showing a youth throwing objects at a line of police in riot gear holding shields.
Jonathan Brash, the Labour MP for the town, said he was “deeply concerned” about the situation and would be meeting with police to discuss their response to the incident.
It comes one day after 53 officers were injured in Southport after a group gathered outside a mosque, with bricks and masonry thrown and a police van set on fire.
Tension has mounted since the deaths of three children at a Taylor Swift themed dance class on Hart Street, after a knifeman entered the premises and launched a brutal attack.
Five other children remain in a critical condition alongside two adults, who were believed to have been ‘bravely’ defending the young victims.
Far-right thugs were accused of using the horrific stabbing at to “whip up hatred” as misinformation about the identity of the suspected knifeman spread like wildfire on social media.
There have been calls for the government to come down hard on those spreading misleading information as the grieving mother of seven-year-old stabbing victim Elsie Dot Stancombe begged for a halt to the violence.
Elsie was killed alongside six-year-old Bebe King and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar in Monday morning’s rampage.
Police are continuing to question a 17-year-old boy arrested in connection with the stabbings and are not treating the incident as terror related.
However within minutes of the news of the attack breaking, misinformation was being shared on social media falsely speculating that the suspect was Muslim, a migrant or refugee.
By Tuesday night, there were at least 27 million impressions on such social media posts, according to Marc Owen Jones, a disinformation researcher and associate professor of Middle East Studies.
Merseyside Police said a large group of people – believed to be supporters of the English Defence League – began to launch missiles towards the mosque in the seaside town at around 7.45pm on Tuesday.
The angry mob chanting far-right slogans and destroyed garden walls so they could use the bricks to attack officers in riot gear.
Police vehicles were damaged and set alight, along with cars belonging to the public parked in the mosque carpark. Shops were looted.
Five people have been arrested following the riot in Southport, with one man having been charged with Possession of a knife/blade/sharp pointed article in a public place.
Jordan Davies, 32, of Portland Street, Southport, will appear in at Wirral Adult Remand Court on Thursday.
Dozens of residents were outside Southport mosque with brushes and shovels on Wednesday morning, clearing bricks from a wall that was knocked down during the rioting.
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said rioters had “hijacked” a vigil for victims and will “feel the full force of the law”, while Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described the rioting as “violent attacks from thugs on the streets”, which she branded “appalling”.
Most Popular
Comments / 0