Far-right violence erupts across England
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The news: Violent anti-immigration protests and riots erupted across England over the weekend, with demonstrators breaking hotel windows and dozens arrested in clashes with police.
The numbers: Fires erupted in Rotherham on Sunday afternoon, following over 147 arrested on Saturday in cities including Aldershot, Bristol, Blackpool, Hull, Liverpool and Manchester according to reports by Reuters, CNN and The Financial Times.
The protests, fuelled by Islamophobic and anti-immigrant misinformation alleging the 17-year-old suspect of the killings was an immigrant despite officials confirming he was British, are the UK's most significant far-right disturbances since 2011.
The context: A far-right protest in South Yorkshire sparked by the killing of three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop, turned chaotic when masked demonstrators stormed a hotel, wrongly believing it housed asylum seekers. The protest, which started peacefully, escalated as the crowd threw debris and bottles at officers, set a bin on fire, and broke into the hotel.
New Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, a former chief prosecutor, condemned the violence warning those involved will face the full force of the law.
The sources: CNN, Reuters , The Financial Times
