Photo credit: France 24
Riots have erupted in the northeast English city of Sunderland amid a string of anti-immigrant protests after the killing of three children at a dance class earlier in the week.
Aljazeera reports that officers faced “serious and sustained levels of violence” after hundreds of people rampaged into the city’ centre. They attacked police and set fire to at least one car and a building next to a police office.
Eight People were arrested after the disturbances. Some officers were taken to the hospital.
Images on social media showed some balaclava-clad youths throwing bricks as fireworks and flares were let off.
Northumbria Police Chief Superintendent Helena Barron said, “The shocking scenes we have witnessed in Sunderland this evening are completely unacceptable.’
There had been two nights of unrest in several English towns and cities following the stabbing of three children in Southport. Online misinformation attributed the killings to a Muslim immigrant. However, the alleged perpetrator was later identified by a judge as Axel Rudakubana, a Christian born in the United Kingdom to Rwandan parents.
Anger over the killings fuelled growing anti-immigration sentiments as far-right social media channels advertised “enough is enough” anti-migrant rallies.
