THE NEW YORK TIMES: Protests escalated over the weekend in towns and cities in England and Northern Ireland, with dozens arrested and more demonstrations unfolding on Sunday.
Anti-immigration rioters attacked a hotel in the town of Rotherham in northern England on Sunday, breaking windows and appearing to set fires at a hotel that has housed asylum seekers, as riots continued in Britain.
The police in cities across the country have braced for continued far-right and anti-immigration protests spurred by a deadly stabbing attack last week in the northern English town of Southport. Disinformation spread rapidly that erroneously claimed the suspect in the knife attack was an immigrant. On Saturday, dozens of people were arrested as demonstrations from Liverpool to Belfast descended into violence.
Sunday saw a new wave of clashes, with groups gathering in Rotherham, Bolton, Hull, Southport, Middlesbrough and other towns and cities scattered across the country that devolved into varying degrees of violence.
In Rotherham, protesters smashed windows and set fires at a Holiday Inn Express before storming into the building as riot police officers struggled to control the rampaging crowd. The hotel had been used to house asylum seekers, but it was unclear if they were still staying at the site. » | Ali Watkins and Megan Specia | Sunday, August 4, 2024
