Everything we know about the Rotherham riot after mob breaks into migrant hotel
Far-right rioters have targeted a Holiday Inn in Rotherham, with footage appearing to show a group attempting to set the building alight with people still inside.
Police in the Yorkshire town have been overwhelmed by the volume of people surrounding the hotel, which houses asylum seekers.
In videos shared online, the mob can be seen throwing bricks and chairs at officers with riot shields, before smashing windows and entering the building while chanting ‘Yorkshire, Yorkshire’.
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Further clips show a flaming bin against an open window in an apparent attempt to start a fire. It was later extinguished.
At least one police officer wearing riot gear was carried away injured before reinforcements arrived.
Activist Brendan Cox, the husband of murdered MP Jo Cox, wrote on social media: ‘The scenes in Rotherham aren’t a protest, they aren’t even a far right riot, they are an ongoing attempt to murder the men, women & children inside by burning them alive.’
Members of the mob, which waved Union flags and the St George’s Cross, taunted police in the car park of the hotel.
Unrest continues to spread in towns and cities across the country, following the deadly mass stabbing at a children’s dance class in Southport on Monday.
Greater Manchester Police said a Section 34 dispersal notice has been authorised covering Bolton, where a protest is expected later, until 10pm on Sunday.
Section 60 notices have been introduced by Merseyside Police in Liverpool and Southport, giving officers greater stop-and-search powers.
There have also been violent clashes with police in Middlesbrough, Belfast, Manchester, Bristol, Blackpool and Stoke-on-Trent.
In Hull earlier today, racists pulled an Asian man from his car and shouted ‘p***’ at him before smashing up the vehicle.
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