Far-right protesters clashed with police on Saturday after tons of of individuals gathered exterior the city corridor in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, for a deliberate protest.
The occasion was organised to protest over the alleged rape of 12-year-old lady within the city, for which two males, reportedly Afghan asylum seekers, have been charged.
The protest started peacefully however there have been tense exchanges with counter-protesters from Stand As much as Racism, who held placards and a banner studying “cease the far proper”.
One held a handwritten signal which learn: “Why do fascists solely care about girls once they can use our tales and ache to oppress others?”
On the opposite aspect, a purple and white signal within the crowd saying “This Is England”, and one other studying “UK first”, had been held above the rising crowd of protesters.
They accused the anti-racists and the police of “defending paedophiles”, shouting “disgrace on you!”.
Nuneaton and Bedworth police mentioned there was one arrest on the protest, a 17-year-old boy for making threats to trigger prison injury.
The counter-protesters had been outnumbered about 4 to at least one and had been led away by police after a few hours.
The gang listened to rambling speeches throughout which males shouted “sufficient is sufficient!” and urged them to help Reform UK. Protesters chanted “ship them residence” and “we wish our nation again”.
Anti-immigration protest in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. {Photograph}: Martin Godwin/The Guardian
One man standing on a stage in entrance of about 400 folks mentioned: “England is doomed. You can’t cease it by protesting, the far proper should unite.”
He known as upon the separate far-right organisations to return collectively in a bunch that ought to embody Tommy Robinson, a far-right agitator whose actual title is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.
Robinson is on bail suspected of assaulting a person in St Pancras station.
The protest, Nuneaton says No!, was organised by the extremist nationalist group Homeland occasion, whose activists unfurled a banner studying “Remigration NOW”, referring to the mass deportation of immigrants and people born within the UK with heritage from abroad.
Many who attended mentioned they had been from the realm and denied being far proper.
In the meantime, Nazi imagery may very well be seen on T-shirts worn by a handful of individuals.
Music blared from a loudspeaker, together with Rule, Britannia! with the refrain loudly sung alongside to. The protest wound down by mid-afternoon because the music was switched off and plenty of protesters, together with many of the girls, left.
Some remained, ingesting cans of beer and dealing themselves up in opposition to the police, whom they accused of masking up crimes by asylum seekers.
When one officer agreed with a protester that the alleged rape of the kid was a “horrific crime”, in an try to calm some agitated protesters, one shouted: “Horrific crime? Effectively allow us to protest then.”
The officer responded: “We’re letting you protest.”
By late afternoon, the gang had completely dispersed. Later, some protesters may very well be seen taking turns to sing karaoke on the road exterior the Wetherspoon’s pub.
