Racist Mobs Rampage England, Anti-Racists Fight Back

A violent and xenophobic race riot ripped through different parts of England from July 30 to August 7. The fatal stabbing of three girls on July 29 in Southport was used by the far-right as an excuse to unleash their hate in the streets of the UK.

Misinformation, speculation and false claims on social media about the attacker’s nationality, religion and immigration status created a false narrative that the murderer was a Muslim asylum seeker who had landed recently in England by boat.

Even when the truth was revealed regarding the suspect being a 17-year-old Christian born in Cardiff, the rioters – under the excuse of his African ancestry – broadened their attacks to people of color and minorities.

Timeline of Attacks

July 30: The attacks started in Southport when about 70 people who had originally gathered outside a mosque, soon became hundreds and started attacking the mosque with stones and other projectiles.
July 31: Violence occurred in London, Aldershot, Manchester and Hartpool as hotels housing asylum seekers were attacked among other targets.
August 2: Rioters attacked Black people and clashed with the police in Sunderland and the weekend that followed was the eye of the storm of the fascist insurgence.
August 3: There were riots and petrol bombs in Bristol, Belfast, Hull, Newcastle, Nottingham, Leeds, Manchester, and Stoke-on-Trent. A library was burned in Liverpool and in Blackpool punks attending a music festival confronted the racist rioters.
August 4: Racist mobs appeared in Weymouth, Tamworth, Bolton, Middlesbrough with hooded fascists smashing windows of the homes of immigrants and chanting “there is no black in the union jack.” In Rotherham, the mob tried turned to asylum seekers housed in a Holiday Inn and attempted to burn them alive.
August 5: Last serious riots appeared in Belfast, Darlington, Burnley, Plymouth and Birmingham.
August 6: Situation rapidly de-escalates.
August 7: Anti-fascist mobilizations occur all over England.

Far-Right Conspiracies, Rioters, and Zionist-Fascists

The far-right narrative that fueled the racist riots has common characteristics of white supremacy – against immigration and multiculturalism. This outburst of mob attacks took an anti-establishment essence through Euroscepticism and the theory of The New World Order relating to the myth of a lost national pride.

Racist theories like the ‘Great Replacement’ and ‘degeneration of Western civilization’ are important pillars in supporting this agenda. Muslims, People of Color, immigrants, abortions, gender-oriented struggles and the like are demonized and presented as the culture of ‘Woke-ism’ and claimed as the main culprit for the economic decline of big parts of British society who in reality have reached bottom due to the povertization and social cannibalism of neoliberal policies and dismantled social bonds.

This explosive mixture amplified by the mainstream media with no alternative over the last decade has shaped an individualistic nihilism. Especially susceptible are European youth trying to fill a sociopolitical void while following race-war advocates like Nigel Farage, Tommy Robinson, and Elon Musk who proclaimed “civil war is inevitable” on X, formerly Twitter, the day after the stabbing of the three girls.

Robinson wrote on social media, “Nobody can say they weren’t warned. I’ve been warning about this for years.” Robinson is the co-founder of EDL (English Defense League) an organization in the forefronts of far-right mobilizations in England over the last decade and a distinctive far-right agitator.

Even though the far-right groups that gathered tried to avoid responsibility for the riots and tried to hide behind a spontaneous unorganized mob approach so that they don’t face the consequences, Robinson and the Islamophobic EDL had the most impact with their callouts. ‘Robinson’s thugs’ was an expression widely used to define this mob during the week of riots.

Robinson is connected to the Israeli lobby both in England and the State. EDL has partnered with the Islamophobic Jewish Defense League (JDL) in England, founded by Israeli fascist Meir Kahan who advocated for the full annihilation, displacement and ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

Robinson is also connected to Quilliam Foundation, a now-closed far-right think tank, which has provided lists of ‘extremist muslims’ to the British government and was funded by organizations which invested in building illegal Israeli settlements and financially supported the Friends of IDF group. His interconnections to Anglo-Saxon and Zionist fascist groups internationally shine light on the globalization of Islamophobia and racism.

“What we’ve seen is far-right influencers stoking a racist minority of this country into targeted violence against Muslims and refugees,“ said Alex Roberts, host of a podcast on the far-right, 12 Rules for What.

A poisonous potion of xenophobia, slow-cooked for years, armed the hands of the rioters. Roberts said, “more so than ever, this was the expression of a post-organizational far right, not directed by any one organization. This made it hard for antifascists to respond, because it is difficult to tell where a far-right callout will gain traction from the online far right swarms.”

Banner reading “immigrants belong here more than [fascists] ever will” is held during a large anti-racist gathering in Walthamstow, London on August 7, 2024 in response to the far-right riots across the country – photo contributed by Flio.

Anti-Racists Flood the Streets Across the Country

The multi-faced anti-racist wave that eventually flooded cities across England on August 7 went beyond political ideals and introduced a body of communities, immigrants, and street gangs as a united anti-fascist front. This new historical flashpoint adds to the political legacy of action and struggle against racism while differing from traditional, segregated political activism.

“This was some of the worst race rioting in over a century,” said Roberts, and “the large-scale anti-fascist mobilisations have brought back a lot more confidence. These were driven by a revulsion of the racist violence and a desire to defend communities.”

Many participants of the anti-racist gatherings noted that they believe the timing of the riots was also used as a way to damage the effectiveness of the continual pro-Palestine demonstrations that have brought people into the streets en masse.

And as Roberts noted, “the far-right broadly stayed away during the big mobilizations,” which led him to conclude that “anti-fascists need to be more discerning in what they build for, to build a sustainable movement for the long term.”

An organizer with Hackney Anarchists going by the pseudonym of Blade Runner, described to Unicorn Riot what they experienced in the streets of London during the riots and the political climate in the lead-up to the first week of August.

“Some of us from the local group decided to attend Trans Pride, organizing our own patrol to keep an eye out for fascists. (Trans pride took place in the heart of London on the 27^th of July, 3 days before the riots started) The demonstration was massive this year too, and I wasn’t particularly worried about Robinson’s event at Trafalgar Square because of the sheer size of our demonstration. Later, I found out from someone in my group who was among the organizers that the Trans Pride route had to be changed in coordination with the authorities to avoid clashes with Robinson’s event, which had been provocatively scheduled for the same day and location (Trafalgar Square). We then read in the news that Trans Pride had drawn over 55,000 people, while Robinson’s event attracted around 15,000. Despite the fascist event receiving extensive media coverage for several days, along with the pitiful turnout of around 5,000 leftists organized by the despicable SWP and their Stand Up to Racism front, Trans Pride was largely ignored in the news, receiving only brief mentions.

A few days later, I saw reports of fascist-led riots on the news. The reporters implied that the crowd’s rage was justified, even though it had been confirmed early on that the assailant’s supposed Muslim background was fake. I thought this must be directly connected to Robinson’s event, believing that their confidence had been bolstered by the Trafalgar Square gathering and the recent change in government following 14 years of neoliberal, xenophobic rhetoric from both the government and the Labour Party, amplified by the mass media. Coupled with the global rise of neo-fascism, it seemed like the local fascist networks were now energized to create a spectacle of ‘people’s riots.’ In our group, we noticed a social media post about neo-fascists holding banners that mixed ultra-nationalist symbols with anarchist ones, and I thought this was surely a tactic to confuse and attract radicalized youth to the streets.

Before long, news spread that these fascist-led riots were happening across the UK. In a few cases, confrontations with antifascist actions appeared to favor the fascists, which made some people uneasy. Soon after, discussions began in my local group about organizing either locally or in coordination with other groups. We heard that the London Antifa Assembly was facing internal issues and might not be able to rise to the occasion, something that was more or less confirmed later by their absence from the organizing. Several local assemblies were announced, and our group decided to split into two or three to attend them all. I went with a few others to an assembly in North London, where there was widespread suspicion of fascist infiltration due to news that a Signal chat group had been compromised. The meeting was chaotic and ultimately unproductive, ending in less than 90 minutes due to space restrictions, with no decisions made except to follow the plan set by the usual leftist vanguard groups.

Several counter-protests were arranged to respond to the numerous locations where the fascists had announced they would protest against immigration support facilities. I attended the largest one with people from my local group and there were no events, no sightings of fascists anywhere to be found.”

An anti-gentrification alliance of groups provided a statement summarizing white supremacy as the root that spawned the racist mobs against immigrants who’ve created “thriving local economies throughout London and across the UK.”

They said community defense is an act of collective care and that a “continued fascist uprising” is inevitable “until inequality is decisively tackled, until investment in deprived neighborhoods addresses challenges faced by the working class and until our neighborhoods are no longer sold off by the state to property investors.”

A member of the alliance, Kernow Goldfinger, highlighted in their statement that “Community defense and resilience are at the heart of what we do. Refugees deserve to be integrated into pre-existing communities, rather than being forced into prison barges and dilapidated hotels, subjected to state violence and placed at risk of racist mob attacks. Harsher sentences, fast-tracked courts, increased police repression and surveillance won’t help anyone, and we fear that these will soon be turned on our communities, and those fighting for a brighter future.”

At least 1,280 people were arrested and 796 people charged for participating in the riots. A 12-year-old boy given a 12-month referral order was the youngest person to be sentenced in England. The longest sentence was 9 years handed to a 27-year-old in Rotherham for violent disorder, possessing an offensive weapon in a public place and attempted arson with intent to endanger life. Most of the sentences averaged 24 months for violent disorder.

In response to the riots, the state initiated a repressive new law called the National Violent Disorder Program. Civil liberty advocates and antifascists are already claiming this new law will be turned against the communities and minorities it was supposed to protect.

A widely held opinion in London is that repression and arrests by the state against far-right racists is not the remedy to cure racism. The massive outpouring of people on the streets on Wednesday, August 7 showed that self-organizing and self-resilience are a clear choice beyond individual truths and the fight is not about personal windmills, but about a collective ability to be present even in the darkest hours.