In Leeds, UK, major riots occurred. The police vehicle was turned over and the double-decker bus was set on fire by protesters.
They were called to Luxor Street in Harehills at 5pm on Thursday where West Yorkshire Police reported an ongoing incident. “There was an ongoing disturbance which involved some agency workers and some children,” were observed by the officers as they arrived.
So, in order to keep them safe, away from the crowd gathering the staff decided to move agency workers and their kids somewhere else. However, this deteriorated into “pockets of disorder” in the area.
According to social media posts a large number of people had gathered on the street with one overturning a police car and setting fire to a bus.
What led to this?
According to reports, protests arose from four children being removed from their family by social workers. One of them had been taken to hospital for treatment of injury caused by another sibling. Local media indicate that this info reached the hospital authorities who passed it onto social services which led into separation of kids and hence protests.
A guarantee from Yorkshire police
There was an ongoing disturbance when they arrived. No uniformed officers were visible at the main disturbance site but a police helicopter monitored activities from above throughout until 9 pm. The Yorkshire police pledged thorough investigation into all cases of criminal activity such as property damage through fire which will see those responsible answerable to their actions. “We want you to understand that those accountable will be left with nothing else but legal consequences,” said the cops.
Leeds City Council’s Chief Executive Tom Riordan said peace had returned by around 1am and clean-up efforts were already underway.
“There was an incident involving family earlier in the day where we attended with our officials and it become quite concerned for large parts of that community,” Riordan stated during an interview aired on BBC (sic). “And so it looks like what triggered off concern amongst groups of people worried about what happened.”
Officials’ reactions
In a social media post, Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin thanked the emergency services and urged anyone escalating tensions to think again. She reported no serious injuries having been sustained. Yvette Cooper the Home Secretary condemned the violence stressing that such disorder has no place in our society. A video statement from councillor Salma Arif of Gipton and Harehills confirmed this and advised residents to stay indoors saying police were managing the situation: “There is an ongoing situation currently in Harehills, we’re aware of that so police are here. We are asking everybody in the area to please stay at home at this moment in time.”
