On Wednesday, August 7, thousands of London residents took to the streets in a counter-protest outside the immigration center in Walthamstow, where a far-right protest was scheduled.
In a show of solidarity and humanity, more than 5,000 protestors vowed to take back “our streets” and also chanted, “Stop the far right” and “Refugees welcome,” in the crowded East London streets, flying flags and banners of solidarity as racial tensions across the country continue to boil over with as many as 100 “planned events” by the far-right, threatening a new wave of violence.
Walthamstow tonight.
— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) August 7, 2024
Will you retweet @elonmusk?
You know – just to provide your 193 million followers with a rounded picture of national sentiment in the U.K. pic.twitter.com/fqsKw9pBTe
During the protest, four people were arrested— two on suspected possession of an offensive weapon – a lock knife and a golf club and one on suspected drunk and disorderly behavior. The fourth suspect was arrested on suspected obstruction of a stop and search.
However, the turmoil has not been limited to London. Finchley, Birmingham, Newcastle and Blackpool, among other towns and cities in the U.K., have also seen a groundswell of opposition, with counter-demonstrators assembling in substantial numbers.
Liverpool, Walthamstow, Oxford, Bristol – beautiful scenes from up and down the country of communities coming together in the face of hatred this evening.
— Matt Daniel (@mattdaniel01) August 7, 2024
THIS is who we are, THIS is what we should be striving for. pic.twitter.com/tfUKXJgL5b
The civil unrest was sparked by the brutal killing of three young girls.
On July 29, Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, were fatally stabbed at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class. Two adults and eight more children were also injured during the frenzied attack. Shortly after, it was announced that a 17-year-old had been arrested for the attack. However, social media posts wrongly alleged that the suspect was a Muslim asylum seeker who arrived in the UK on a boat in 2023— details never confirmed by law enforcement.
BBC News reported that the suspect was born in Wales to Rwandan parents.
In response to the false news reports, supporters of the now dispersed far-right group, the English Defence League (EDL), banned neo-Nazi groups Atomwaffen Division and National Action teamed up with Active Club, a U.S. founded extreme white supremacist groups, shared plans to assemble via various channels, the Telegram messaging app and the day after the attack, in Southport, more than 1,000 people convened outside a mosque in the Merseyside town last Tuesday for stomach-churning display of violence and prejudice. Protesters chanted, “This is our f-cking country” and “Save our children” as they pelted law enforcement with bricks and lit fires and bottles at law enforcement, injuring more than 50 police officers.
The day after the Southport riot, violent protests broke out in London, Hartlepool and Manchester, where several mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers were targeted.
At last night’s mobilisation in Walthamstow, one demonstrator had this to say to racist rioters: “We're born here. This is home." pic.twitter.com/KcKe6i8Xjy
— Novara Media (@novaramedia) August 8, 2024
Surprisingly (or perhaps unsurprisingly), Elon Musk, the owner of social media platform X, took to social media to hurl accusations at British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, accusing him of discriminatory “two-tiered” policing.
“Arrested for making comments on Facebook!,” Musk wrote on X, while reporting a video showing angry crowds of balaclava-clad Muslim men outside The Clumsy Swan in Yardley. “Is this Britain or the Soviet Union? Is this accurate @Community Notes.” In a separate tweet, Musk questioned, “Why aren’t all communities protected in Britain?”
Starmer issued a statement shutting Musk’s attempts to further fuel the political fire all the down.
“There’s no justification for comments like that,” a spokesperson for Starmer said. “What we’ve seen in this country is organized, violent thuggery that has no place, either on our streets or online.”
“We’re talking about a minority of thugs that do not speak for Britain, and in response to it, we’ve seen some of the best of our communities coming out and cleaning up the mess [and] the disruption of those that don’t speak for our country, and we’ve seen the response for people that do speak for our country. I think you can tell from that that the prime minister does not share those sentiments.”
Starmer makes a thinly-veiled threat to Elon Musk:
— Adam Schwarz (@AdamJSchwarz) August 1, 2024
"Let me also say to large social media companies and those that run them. Violent disorder clearly whipped up online, that is also a crime… The law must be upheld… We will take all necessary action to keep our streets safe". pic.twitter.com/pjMPZf84ZA
After deploying a heavy police presence to the streets and more than 400 arrests country-wide, the government says it remains cautious and is on stand-by.
