London: Thousands of anti-racism protesters rallied across the UK on Saturday to protest recent riots blamed on the right-wing after a Southport knife attack left three children dead.
Crowds gathered in London, Glasgow, Belfast, Manchester and many other English towns and cities, as fears of violent clashes with anti-immigration protesters did not materialize.
It led to a similar situation on Wednesday night, when anticipated rallies up and down the country were replaced by gatherings organized by the Stand Up to Racism advocacy group.
More than a dozen places in England and Belfast have previously been hit by unrest, following the July 29 stabbing, which was falsely linked on social media to Muslim migrants.
Rioters targeted mosques and hotels linked to immigration, as well as police, vehicles and other sites.
However, recent nights have been largely peaceful in English towns and cities, raising hopes among authorities that more than 700 arrests and more people already in jail have discouraged further violence.
However, in Northern Ireland, which has seen continued unrest since last weekend, police said they were investigating a suspected racially motivated hate crime overnight.
According to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), a petrol bomb was thrown at a mosque in Newtownards, east of Belfast, on Saturday morning, spraying graffiti on the front door and walls of the building.
It is said that the petrol bomb that hit the house did not cause arson.
“This is being treated as a racially motivated hate crime, and I want to send a strong message to those who do this, that this type of activity will not be tolerated and that any report of hate crime is taken seriously,” PSNI Chief Inspector Keith Hutchinson said.
There were also reports of damage to property and vehicles throughout the night as unrest continued overnight in Belfast.
The unrest in Northern Ireland was sparked by events in England but according to the PSNI, pro-UK loyalist paramilitaries have been fueled with their own agenda.
Around 5,000 anti-racism protesters marched without incident in Belfast on Saturday.
In London, hundreds marched outside the offices of Brexit architect Nigel Farage's Reform UK party before marching on Parliament, amid a heavy police presence.
Farage and other far-right figures have been accused of helping to incite the riots through anti-immigrant rhetoric and conspiracy theories.
“It's really important for people of color in this country, for immigrants in this country, to see us here as white British people saying, 'No, we don't stand for this,'” participant Phoebe Sewell, 32, from London, told AFP.
Fellow Londoner Jeremy Snelling, 64, said he walked out because “I don't like the right-wing claiming streets in my name.”
He did not hold Farez “personally responsible” for the violence but argued that the founder of the Reform Party had “contributed” to the volatile environment.
“I think he's harmful and I think he's dangerous,” Snelling added.
