After days of riots against immigrants and Muslims, thousands of anti-racism demonstrators took to the streets in the UK on Wednesday, August 7, to encounter the far-right rallies.
According to Associated Press, anti-racism protestors were holding signs saying, ‘Refugees welcome,’ and ‘No racism, no fascism, no islamophobia.’ They chanted, “There are many, many more of us than you.”
An organiser of the protest shouted on the megaphone, “We today have got such brilliant numbers in our community. We have shown them whose streets these really are. These are our streets.”
They came out to protect asylum service centres and the offices of immigration attorneys after the far-right groups announced on social media that they held protests at visa processing centres and immigration lawyers’ offices at more than 100 sites around the country at 8 p.m. local time (3 p.m. ET).
Commissioner Mark Rowley, the head of London’s Metropolitan Police Service, on Thursday appreciated anti-racist protestors, saying, “The show of force from the police and, frankly, the show of unity from communities together defeated the challenges that we faced. It went off very peacefully last night, and the fears of extreme right disorder were abated.”
Additionally, violence broke out in the country after disinformation around the stabbing attack at the Taylor Swift-themed event spread on social media.
