The de-escalation of violence that occurred on Wednesday night, according to Diana Johnson, was “just the start.” She also noted that the rapid mobilization of police personnel had had an effect that deterred more incidents.
In response to the threat of more than one hundred planned anti-immigration demonstrations, businesses were boarded up across the country. However, in the majority of locations, these demonstrations did not materialize because thousands of nonviolent anti-racism activists showed up despite the threat.
Johnson stated in an interview with BBC Breakfast that the counter-demonstrations demonstrated the “tradition of peaceful protest” in the United Kingdom.
“The response of the police, the numbers, and the mobilization that we have witnessed in order to get the police officers on our streets and to be available in the event that disruption happens is really significant and has had a positive effect.
People are now going to prison for the acts that they carried out on our streets in the last few days, according to the policing minister. “The response then of the police in terms of arresting people who were involved in criminal acts over the last week, bringing them into police stations, getting them charged, and then getting them in front of a court,” the minister said.
The day before yesterday, we witnessed a case in which a man who struck a law enforcement officer was sentenced to three years in jail. As a result, I believe that prompt justice is of utmost significance.
The following is what she had to say: “I am hoping and I am aware that the number of people who have been arrested today will increase.” We have now charged more than 140 people, and that number is expected to continue to rise. It is expected that today will witness an increase in the number of individuals who appear in court and get punished.
On Thursday, additional individuals who were arrested during the disturbance that occurred over the previous week will appear in court. It is likely that some of these individuals will be incarcerated on live television. After admitting to violent disturbances during the riots that occurred in the city center of Liverpool, three men were sentenced to prison on Wednesday for a maximum of three years.
Johnson made the following statement: “We are going to make sure that people are brought to account for not only those physical acts that take place on the street, but also what is taking place online, for that matter.”
The authorities declared, “If you engage in activities on the internet, we will come for you just as much as we will come for you for what you do on the streets of our country, if you are carrying out criminal disorder and violence.”
In an interview with Sky News, Johnson expressed her satisfaction with the reduction in the level of violence that occurred on Wednesday, but she also expressed her “cautious” attitude for the days that lie ahead. Obviously, this is just the beginning of things. We now have further intelligence regarding the activities that will take place over the next few days, and we need to watch what transpires in that area.
“All options are being looked at,” Johnson said in response to a question from LBC on a report that was published in the i newspaper suggesting that far-right rioters could be prohibited from attending football matches.
Sir Mark Rowley, the chief of the Metropolitan Police, stated that his officers had been participating in early morning raids on Thursday with the intention of targeting individuals who were suspected of inciting unrest in Whitehall the previous week.
“We have been out conducting some dawn raids this morning, and the individuals who were the most violent during the demonstrations and violence that took place in Whitehall last week… Approximately seventy percent of them have a history of criminal activity, Rowley stated on BBC Radio 4.
We are dealing with criminal damage, violence, crime involving weapons, and directives to ban football players. These are criminals who are thugs. Most of them are going to be charged with violent disturbance, and the majority of them are going to go to prison for a few years. Any insinuation that they are patriots or that they have a cause that they are protesting for is a complete and utter fabrication.
In response to the events that took place on Wednesday evening, Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, made the following statement on X: “To those who came out peacefully to show London stands united against racism and Islamophobia last night, thank you.”
Thank you to our brave police force, which works around the clock to ensure the safety of the people living in London. Also, to those extremists on the far right who are still determined to spread hatred and divide, you will never be welcome in this neighborhood.
According to the campaign organization known as Stand Up to Racism, about 25,000 people participated in the counter-protests that took place on Wednesday. For example, there were approximately 8,000 people in Walthamstow, 7,000 people in Bristol, and 2,000 people in Liverpool. Similar numbers were also seen in Brighton and Newcastle.
They had “made clear their intention is to cause disruption and fuel disorder,” according to the Metropolitan police, who said that approximately fifty individuals had congregated in North End Road, Croydon, which is located in south London. Ten people were taken into custody after some of the people who had gathered tossed bottles and other objects down the road at the officers who were on duty. “This appears to be pure antisocial behavior,” the Metropolitan Police Department had stated. “This is not linked to protest.”
Following a heated argument that occurred on Wednesday evening in Aldershot, dozens of law enforcement officials were dispatched to separate the two parties. Following a “largely peaceful” demonstration in Bristol, Avon, and Somerset, police officers made an arrest after a brick was thrown at a police vehicle. The protest was described as “largely peaceful.”