{"id":220,"date":"2024-08-07T23:00:54","date_gmt":"2024-08-07T23:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/07\/more-of-us-than-you-thousands-of-anti-racist-protesters-turn-out-to-counter-far-right-rallies-in-uk\/"},"modified":"2024-08-07T23:00:54","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T23:00:54","slug":"more-of-us-than-you-thousands-of-anti-racist-protesters-turn-out-to-counter-far-right-rallies-in-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/07\/more-of-us-than-you-thousands-of-anti-racist-protesters-turn-out-to-counter-far-right-rallies-in-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018More of us than you\u2019: Thousands of anti-racist protesters turn out to counter far-right rallies in UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thousands of anti-racist protesters have taken to the streets across the United Kingdom to counter a spate of far-right rallies planned to target immigration centers, seeming to thwart what looked set to be another day of rioting. <\/p>\n

After days of violence spurred by disinformation around a deadly stabbing attack, police had braced for another night of unrest on Wednesday. Far-right groups on social media had called for protests to target visa processing centers and immigration lawyers\u2019 offices at more than 100 sites around the country at 8 p.m. local time (3 p.m. ET). <\/p>\n

But by the early evening, thousands of counter-protesters had gathered at more than a dozen cities to guard the immigration centers and prevent them being targeted by the far right. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many, many more of us than you,\u201d crowds chanted at anti-racist demonstrations across the country, bolstered by a markedly stronger police presence than over the weekend, and with virtually no sign of any far-right supporters. <\/p>\n

Whether Wednesday\u2019s counter-protests represent a turning point is not yet clear, but fears of another night of unrest have abated for now. The fizzling out of the planned protests will come as a major relief for the new Labour government, and for communities that had prepared for the worst. <\/p>\n

It may also be a sign that many have been deterred from taking to the streets, after previous far-right protests turned violent and hundreds of rioters were arrested over the weekend, with some already receiving prison sentences. <\/p>\n

In Walthamstow, east London, the immigration center was entirely boarded up, protected by a heavy police presence and surrounded by around three or four thousand counter-protesters. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe today have got such brilliant numbers in our community,\u201d an organizer shouted through a megaphone to a hastily organized crowd. \u201cWe have shown them whose streets these really are. These are our streets.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ahmed Hussain, 31, said he had come out to support the counter-protesters because \u201cwhen you don\u2019t, the fascists feel emboldened.\u201d <\/p>\n

The worst of the past week\u2019s violence was concentrated in the north of England. In Rotherham on Sunday, far-right rioters set fire to a hotel used to house asylum seekers as more than 200 people cowered inside. Large crowds of people shouting \u201cenough is enough\u201d and \u201cget \u2019em out\u201d were also seen clashing with police in several other cities. <\/p>\n

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Police respond to clashes between far-right demonstrators and counter-protesters in Sheffield, August 7, 2024.<\/span>CNN<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI normally walk through this city center all the time,\u201d said Nadeem Akhtar, 18, who has lived in Sheffield his whole life. \u201cBut now, recently, even my mum\u2019s been saying to me, don\u2019t be going out so much, because you never know what could happen.\u201d <\/p>\n

Akhtar had gathered with friends midday Wednesday in the city center to demonstrate against a planned far-right protest. Unlike last week, where protests across the country were allowed to boil over into racist violence, the Sheffield demonstration was overseen by a huge police presence separating the protesters and counter-protesters. <\/p>\n

At least three right-wing demonstrators were arrested during altercations between the two groups. As one man was escorted away by police, he called out: \u201cI ain\u2019t done nothing. Double standards.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Anti-racists hold a counter-protest outside an immigration center in Sheffield, August 7, 2024.<\/span>CNN<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Anti-immigration protesters have often accused police of double standards in responding to their demonstrations, claiming that they are not treated fairly and giving Keir Starmer, the prime minister, the nickname \u201ctwo-tier Keir.\u201d <\/p>\n

At the counter-protest in Sheffield later Wednesday evening, one of the speakers criticized Musk\u2019s comments. \u201cThe richest man in the world is stirring the pot for a race war,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thousands of anti-racist protesters have taken to the streets across the United Kingdom to counter a spate of far-right rallies planned to target immigration centers, seeming to thwart what looked set to be another day of rioting. After days of violence spurred by disinformation around a deadly stabbing attack, police had braced for another night […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investingsstrategist.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}