Far-right, anti-immigration demonstrations stoked by conspiracy theories and AI-generated images spread on social media spilled over into violence in cities across the nation.

The United Kingdom woke up Sunday morning to city streets covered in debris and smoldering rubbish as a weekend of far-right, anti-immigration demonstrations — stoked by conspiracy theories spread on social media — erupted into violence in seven cities across the nation.

Police arrested at least 100 people, and riot police wearing helmets and holding shields came out in force as Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged to take action against “extremists.”

On Saturday, groups in Leeds waving St. George’s Cross flags, England’s national flag regularly flown by far-right groups, shouted “Muslims off our streets,” pairing it with a slur suggesting they were criminal child abusers. In the city of Hull, rioters threw bottles and smashed a window at a hotel housing asylum-seekers as demonstrators clashed with police.

What started as targeted anti-immigration demonstrations quickly descended into directionless disorder. A library in Liverpool, reopened in 2023 as an “education to employment” service for people of all abilities, was set ablaze.

  • @frankgrimeszzEnglish
    18•4 months ago

    They have always been. I had the option to move to England permanently and decided not to. The reality there is not pretty. If you’re a 100% white local you probably won’t notice.

    • dactylothecaEnglish
      7•4 months ago

      If you’re 100% white you probably won’t notice.

      100% white, cis, and straight.

      There’s this transmasc / enby / bigender “influencer” (Eddie Engels) who’s planning on moving to the UK (and not exactly to what anybody would call a liberal-minded area either iirc) to be close to his currently long-distance boyfriend, and I feel sorry for the guy. He’s just such a quintessentially queer character that it’s likely he’s actually not going to be safe there, and I really don’t know if he’s thought this thing through too well…

      the things we do for love 🤷

      Edit: I had to check because somebody asked, but it was actually Bristol he’s moving to, which should be completely fine. Vague memory was vague, heh

      • @frankgrimeszzEnglish
        10•4 months ago

        I saw a young Asian-Canadian twitch live streamer visit one of the worse areas and he had no idea how close he came to being killed (at least until it was almost too late). A gang of teens with knives came after him. The second they pulled masks over their face I knew he was probably finished. Thankfully some cops saved him and dropped him back near his hotel in a tourist area.

        • dactylothecaEnglish
          1•4 months ago

          Hasn’t moved yet. I did a quick search and turns out he’s moving to Bristol so it’s not as bad as it could be, I had a vague memory it was more up north