Violence broke out in Britain, the United Kingdom over the weekend, including clashes with riot police at a hotel housing asylum seekers, after misinformation spread about a mass stabbing that killed three children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last week.
According to reports, properties were destroyed but no employees or guests at the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham were injured, but the police said at least 10 officers were injured.
It was not immediately clear how far the sieging demonstrators went into the hotel, but photos showed confrontations between police and protesters, violence that Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned as “far-right thuggery.”
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In a statement by the British authorities, Kier Starmer the prime minister vowed that the security agencies will “do whatever it takes to bring these thugs to justice” and that justice will be swift.
“I guarantee you will regret taking part in this disorder, whether directly or those whipping up this action online and then running away themselves,” Starmer said. “This is not a protest, it is organised, violent thuggery and it has no place on our streets or online.”
The Prime minister condemned the violence, which was particularly acute in the north of England town of Rotherham where police struggled to hold back hundreds of rioters who sought to break into the hotel being used as accommodation for asylum-seekers.
Before bringing the riot under some sort of control, police officers with shields had faced a barrage of missiles, including bits of wood, chairs and fire extinguishers. A large bin close to a window of the hotel was also set alight but the small fire was extinguished, one news reported.
South Yorkshire Police, which is responsible for Rotherham, said at least 10 officers have been injured, including one who was left unconscious.
“The behaviour we witnessed has been nothing short of disgusting,” said Lindsey Butterfield, assistant chief constable of police in the area. “While it was a smaller number of those in attendance who chose to commit violence and destruction, those who simply stood on and watched remain absolutely complicit in this.”
