Police in the northern English city of Rotherham struggled to hold back a group of far-right activists on Sunday, who broke into a hotel believed to be housing asylum seekers.

The disturbance is the latest in a series of violent protests by anti-immigration groups in British towns and cities this week after three girls were killed in a knife attack in Southport in northwest England on Monday.

Footage aired on British TV showed officers with shields targeted by a barrage of projectiles outside the Holiday Inn Express hotel in Rotherham, near Sheffield.

A few minutes later, the protesters can be seen storming the building and removing chairs from inside to use as weapons.

A small fire was also visible while windows in the hotel were smashed.

At least one officer was injured in the confrontation.

  • sandbox@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    We are seeing the rising tide of fascism which is the inevitable consequence of (neo-)liberalism.

    The ruling elite control all of the wealth and power and starve public services of funding, meaning that working class people struggle to get their needs met, especially around health and education. Inflation and rising costs makes everything more expensive, while wages stagnate and workers rights are steadily eroded.

    This results in a large population of people, struggling financially, likely with low levels of education, who don’t see how they will have much of a future, looking for someone to blame.

    Since the ruling class control the media, they throw the disillusioned victims of the ruling class off the scent, choosing some vulnerable minority group as the scapegoat - jews, immigrants, whatever - to protect themselves against the threat of violence.

    • Etterra@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Don’t forget that immigrants have been convenient scapegoats since the dawn of civilization.

    • debil@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Yes, one of the oldest tricks in the book is in use. Unfortunately it still seems to work.