U.K. Officials Express Relief After Far-Right Riots Fail to Materialize

[Pelican Press 0]

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U.K. Officials Express Relief After Far-Right Riots Fail to Materialize

British officials on Thursday expressed relief and cautious optimism after far-right protests ******* to materialize the previous night and antiracism demonstrators took to the streets instead.

The authorities had been braced for further ********* after anti-immigrant protests in previous days had descended into riots, fueled by disinformation about the fatal stabbing of three young children at a dance class in Southport, northwestern England, on July 29.

But with around 6,000 officers on standby, Wednesday evening passed with little *********. Pockets of far-right protesters were easily outnumbered by antiracism counterdemonstrations in several cities, including Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and London.

That raised hopes that the law enforcement authorities had begun to regain control after riots over the previous weekend. Hundreds of people were arrested and dozens of police officers were injured in those outbreaks of *********, which saw rioters set cars on ***** and target mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers.

The British minister for policing, Diana Johnson, said on Thursday that the heavy police presence and the deterrent effect of swift prosecutions for some of those arrested after previous acts of ********* had helped stave off disorder overnight.

“The fact that we were able to show that the police were out in communities in large numbers,” coupled with sentencings for rioters, she told the BBC, had been “a very stark reminder to people that if they engage in ********* acts on our streets they will be held to account.”

Not everywhere was free of ********* on Wednesday night, however, and a small number of arrests were made. In Belfast, Northern Ireland, objects were thrown at the police, fires were lit and officers in riot gear were deployed.

But in London, Mark Rowley, commissioner of the city’s Metropolitan Police, described Wednesday as a “very successful night.”

“The show of force from police — and frankly the show of unity from communities — together defeated the challenges we have seen,” he said.

Efforts to combat calls on social media for ********* could also have played a role. Both the government and the police had expressed concern about the use of messaging apps like Telegram by far-right groups intent on stoking disorder.

On Wednesday, Telegram said that its moderators were removing channels and posts containing calls to *********. The company also said that it was using A.I. tools and user reports “to ensure content that breaches Telegram’s terms is removed.”

Despite the respite, Tiffany ******, acting national chair of the Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, told the BBC that it was “absolutely not” possible to say that the run of ********* was now at an end.

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