In a United Kingdom shaken by far-right violence, the government announced on Tuesday the mobilization of 6,000 specialized police officers and more than 500 prison places available to lock up rioters.
Monday night was marred by further violent incidents, a week after three girls were killed in a knife attack in the north-west of England.
In Belfast (Northern Ireland), a man in his thirties was seriously injured after an attack motivated by hate, according to the police, who did not specify the profile of the victim.
For several hours, the police were the target of Molotov cocktails and throwing of bricks or pieces of concrete, according to the Northern Irish police, including a Land Rover 4X4 which was set on fire after being doused with petrol, without however causing any injuries.
A 15-year-old boy suspected of having taken part in the incidents was arrested and taken into police custody, the same source said.
Rumors
In Plymouth (south-west England), a tense face-off took place between the far right and counter-demonstrators, separated by the police.
Six people were arrested and several police officers were slightly injured, according to the police.
Sky News also reported that a man tried to stab a vehicle carrying its journalists in Birmingham, central, where a crowd of Muslim men gathered to defend the streets after rumours of a far-right rally.
The first violence began amid rumours, which were partly denied, about the suspect’s profile, wrongly presented as a Muslim asylum seeker. The 17-year-old was in fact born in Cardiff, Wales, and, according to British media, his family is of Rwandan origin.
“We will take all necessary steps to end the disorder,” Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, according to the minutes of the cabinet meeting.
Justice Secretary Heidi Alexander said a total of 6,000 police officers specialising in law enforcement would be mobilised and 567 prison places that would have become available “later this month” would be freed up.
“We will ensure that all those who are sentenced to prison for rioting and disorder have a place waiting for them in prison,” she told the BBC.
Following the 400 or so arrests in recent days, around a hundred charges have already been brought, according to the prosecution, including those of 28 people suspected of having participated in violence in Middlesborough (north of England).
A 28-year-old man has been charged with inciting racial hatred over Facebook posts, prosecutors say. Two people have been arrested for “racially aggravated harassment” over posts calling for protests outside a hotel falsely advertised as housing asylum seekers, police said.
“Stain on our conscience”
In a letter to the daily TimesChristian, Muslim and Jewish religious leaders condemned “the hatred, the violence” targeting mosques and asylum seekers, which represent “a stain on our national moral conscience.”
Over the weekend, hotels hosting or known to host asylum seekers, as well as mosques, were targeted.
In Burnley (north-west England), an investigation into racist acts has been opened after graves were vandalised in the Muslim square.
The government has stressed the responsibility of social networks, while the boss of the X platform, Elon Musk, finds himself under fire for having written that a “civil war is inevitable”, remarks that the Secretary of State for Justice has called “unjustifiable” and “deeply irresponsible”.
The country has not seen such a surge since 2011, after the death of a young mixed-race man, Mark Duggan, by police in north London.