Far-right rioters targeted a Holiday Inn in Rotherham, attempting to set the building on fire while people were inside. The Yorkshire town’s police force struggled to manage the large crowd surrounding the hotel, which houses asylum seekers.
Holiday inn Rotherham taking a bit of a beating , protesters have broken in , smashed windows and set fires 🔥 pic.twitter.com/9ZE6SGmnbY
— Lord Edmund Blackadder (@1nc06nito_) August 4, 2024
Footage shared online shows the mob hurling bricks and chairs at officers with riot shields. They broke windows and entered the building while chanting “Yorkshire, Yorkshire.” Another video depicts a flaming bin positioned against an open window, seemingly to start a fire, which was later extinguished.
People were seen looking down from the upper floors of the hotel as the mob gathered outside. At least one police officer in riot gear was injured and carried away before reinforcements arrived.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned the violence on X, stating, “The criminal, violent attack on a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham is utterly appalling. Deliberately setting fire to a building with people known to be inside.” She assured that local police have “full Government support for the strongest action against those responsible.”
Clashes broke out outside Holiday Inn Hotel in #Rotherham where ‘illegal migrants’ are staying
Windows and doors have been smashed at the hotel, and a large bin was set alight outside the building
Protests started across the country after the killing of three young… pic.twitter.com/9Iv5J4uMkL
— Siddhant Mishra (@siddhantvm) August 4, 2024
Activist Brendan Cox, the husband of murdered MP Jo Cox, described the incident on social media as an attempt to murder the men, women, and children inside by burning them alive. The mob, waving Union flags and the St George’s Cross, taunted police in the hotel car park.
The unrest has spread to towns and cities across the country following a deadly mass stabbing at a children’s dance class in Southport on Monday. Greater Manchester Police issued a Section 34 dispersal notice in Bolton, where a protest is expected, effective until 10pm on Sunday. Merseyside Police introduced Section 60 notices in Liverpool and Southport, granting officers enhanced stop-and-search powers.
Violent clashes with police have also occurred in Middlesbrough, Belfast, Manchester, Bristol, Blackpool, and Stoke-on-Trent. In Hull earlier today, racists pulled an Asian man from his car, shouted racial slurs at him, and vandalised the vehicle.