Rotherham: Anti-immigration demonstrators clashed with police Sunday in multiple towns and cities in UK with Prime Minister Keir Starmer calling it ‘far-right thuggery’, reports say.
Keir Starmer warned protesters they would regret participating in what the news agency AFP reported England's worst rioting in 13 years.
It stemmed from disturbances following the murder of three children earlier this week, according to the report.
It is reported that masked protesters vented their fury smashing several windows of a hotel, which housed asylum seekers in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.
The unrest linked to the misinformation following the mass stabbing in Southport last Monday spread to multiple towns and cities.
The newly elected Starmer administration is facing its biggest challenge of violence with Starmer saying in a TV address: ‘I guarantee you will regret taking part in this disorder. Whether directly or those whipping up this action online, and then running away themselves.’
Promising to bring troublemakers to ‘justice’, he added that there was ‘no justification’ for ‘far-right thuggery’.
Footage reportedly showed rioters pushing a burning bin and forcing their way into a Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham.
It is not known if asylum seekers were inside the hotel; however, the hotels staff or clients were safe but ten officer were reportedly injured in the chaos.
Protesters in Middlesbrough fought with police carrying shields, throwing bricks, cans and pots.
The fresh protests broke out as 150 people had been arrested since Saturday after far-right rallies in Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, blackpool and Hull turned violent.
Demonstrators shouted anti-Islamic slurs as they clashed with counter-protesters.
This is the worst violence to hit England since the 2011 rioting following the police killing of a mixed-race man in north London.
Following the violence, a joint appeal for calm was issued by Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious leaders in Liverpool.