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Two hotels housing asylum seekers in the United Kingdom were attacked by far-right demonstrators on Sunday amid ongoing anti-Muslim, anti-migration riots.
According to Al Jazeera, hundreds of people gathered in front of a Holiday Inn Express hotel housing asylum seekers near the town of Rotherham. They threw bricks at police, broke hotel windows, and set bins on fire.
Videos of the riots showed police preventing masked rioters from storming the hotel. On the same day, Staffordshire Police reported that a hotel near Birmingham, also sheltering asylum seekers, was targeted.
«The behavior we witnessed has been nothing short of disgusting. While it was a smaller number of those in attendance who chose to commit violence and destruction, those who simply stood by and watched remain absolutely complicit in this», said Assistant Chief Constable Lindsey Butterfield. She added that «a large group of individuals» had been «throwing projectiles, smashing windows, starting fires, and targeting police» at the hotel in Tamworth, where one officer was injured.
For the record, violent riots erupted in multiple British cities last weekend following the murder of three young girls in northern England. The unrest involved hundreds of anti-immigration protesters who took to the streets after false rumors circulated on social media, claiming that the suspect in Monday's fatal stabbing at a children's dance class in Southport was a radicalized Muslim immigrant, reports Reuters.
Police have identified the suspect as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, a British-born individual. Despite this, anti-immigration and anti-Muslim demonstrations escalated into violence, arson, and looting. Riots occurred in Liverpool, Bristol, Hull, and Belfast, resulting in injuries to numerous police officers. Dozens of individuals have been arrested for violent disorder, burglary, and criminal damage across Britain.
In response, authorities have deployed police forces in affected cities and advised mosques to enhance security measures. Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the far-right for instigating the violence and pledged strong police action.
On Friday night, anti-immigration demonstrators in Sunderland targeted a mosque, throwing stones at police and vandalizing property. A car was set on fire, and a police station was damaged.
