11 Feb. () –
A total of 15 people have been arrested after the riots that broke out on Friday night during a demonstration and counter-demonstration in the vicinity of a reception hotel for asylum seekers in Knowsley, on the outskirts of Liverpool, as reported by the Police.
Anti-asylum seekers protesters and participants in a counter-demonstration gathered outside the Ribblers Lane Suites Hotel after the arrival of a new group of migrants and a police van was set on fire and objects were thrown in the fight.
“Around 6:30 p.m. the agents were deployed during a peaceful demonstration and the counter-demonstration,” explained a police spokesman.
“Unfortunately, shortly after, several people who did not belong to the original protest group revolted and it is clear that they were only interested in causing problems by using violence and intimidation without any reason or care against several people and also against our agents,” he said. . The detainees are between 13 and 54 years old, according to authorities.
The deputy for Knowsley, Sir George Howarth, has assured that the demonstration is due to “an alleged incident on social networks” and has criticized the reports that immigrants had “feather beds” in this hotel.
The founder of the NGO Care4Calais, Clare Moseley, explained that she herself was present among the 120 people who gathered at the scene to protest the anti-immigration demonstration, reports Sky News.
Moseley has denounced that “ultra-rightists” set fire to a police van that ended up “exploding”. “We heard that there were going to be people from the far right and we didn’t want the people in the hotel to be scared and not be alone,” she said. “It was a war zone”, he has riveted her.
