UK Protest LIVE: Riots Erupt In Sunderland | Sunderland Riots | UK News Live | Southport | N18G
Dozens of protesters attacked police and started fires in the English city of Sunderland on Friday as violence spread to another city after Monday’s killing of three children in Southport. Demonstrators threw stones at police in riot gear near a mosque in the city before overturning vehicles and setting a car alight.
“The safety of the public is our utmost priority and when we became aware that a protest had been planned, we ensured there was an increased policing presence in the city,” Northumbria Police Chief Superintendent Helena Barron said in a statement.
“During the course of the evening those officers were met with serious and sustained levels of violence, which is utterly deplorable.” Three police officers were taken to hospital for treatment, and eight people have so far been arrested for offences such as violent disorder and burglary, Barron added.
The demonstration in Sunderland was one of more than a dozen planned by anti-immigration protesters across the UK this weekend, including in the vicinity of at least two mosques in Liverpool, the closest city to where the children were killed. Several anti-racism counter-protests were also planned. British police were out in force on Friday across the country and mosques were tightening security, officials said.
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