Crowds of anti-racism demonstrators overwhelmed far-right extremists and "helped stop the violence" expected in the UK on Wednesday night, per the Washington Post. Far-right extremists shouting anti-immigrant and Islamophobic slogans have attacked mosques and motels housing asylum-seekers in cities across the UK over the last week, and police had warned of plans to target another 30 locations, including refugee centers and law offices, on Wednesday evening. Then "thousands of counterdemonstrators poured into the streets of a dozen English cities to denounce racism and to protect [targets]," and "appeared to outnumber the agitators," per the Post. Sky News reports "mass protests failed to materialize."
In Southampton, hundreds of anti-racism demonstrators met roughly a dozen anti-immigration protesters and shouted, "Racists go home." In Bristol, some 1,500 anti-racist protesters gathered for a "largely peaceful demonstration," per the BBC. There were similar scenes around London. A YouGov survey has found 85% of Brits oppose the recent unrest. "Even if you think that migration needs to be controlled and it's fine to send people to Rwanda, you can still draw a line at smoking people out of a hotel, because that's attempted murder," Marta Lorimer, a lecturer in politics at Cardiff University, tells the Post. "These are very extreme behaviors that don't have wide support."
Protests erupted after far-right activists used misinformation to elevate concerns about illegal immigration. The activists falsely claimed an asylum seeker with an Arabic name had illegally entered the country and killed three young girls in a knife attack on July 29. The assailant was in fact a Welsh teenager. The new prime minster, Keir Starmer, has referred to the protesters as "thugs." "If you provoke violent disorder on our streets or online, you will face the full force of the law," said the former top prosecutor. Some 428 people have been arrested and 120 charged. The first sentences—"stiff prison terms of 20 months, 30 months and three years"—were handed down Wednesday, per the Post. (The government says Elon Musk is fanning the flames.)
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