A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Attacks on mosques and immigrants, Nazi salutes in the streets - those were some of the scenes over the weekend across the U.K. as far-right race riots erupted. NPR's Lauren Frayer reports from London.
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UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Chanting) Get them out. Get them out.
LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: Get them out, crowds chanted, as they broke windows and set fire to a Holiday Inn housing asylum-seekers in Rotherham. In Liverpool, they pulled a police officer off his motorcycle and punched him. In Sunderland, people had to lock themselves in a mosque, hiding from a mob waving flags associated with an anti-Muslim group.
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ZAF IQBAL: You've got a mob attacking a building which is a place of worship, just the same as a church.
FRAYER: Zaf Iqbal co-chairs the Sunderland Interfaith Forum, and he broke down talking to reporters.
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IQBAL: I've lived my life here. I'm proud I'm English, but...
FRAYER: The violence has been in smaller, economically deprived cities, where wages are stagnant, and the government has resettled some migrants. In an address to the nation from 10 Downing Street, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said...
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PRIME MINISTER KEIR STARMER: To those who feel targeted because of the color of your skin or your faith, I know how frightening this must be. I want you to know that this violent mob do not represent our country.
FRAYER: Hundreds of people have been arrested. Penalties include prison time and travel bans. This all began last week with a brutal crime.
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A third child has died in the stabbing attack in the British seaside town of Southport.
FRAYER: Little girls stabbed to death at a dance class on their first day of summer vacation. A 17-year-old boy was charged with murder. At first, his identity wasn't made public because he's a minor, and anger and speculation swirled. Anti-immigrant groups spread rumors he was undocumented, which is false. He's British and Black.
SATHNAM SANGHERA: There's some kind of squeamishness about calling it racist violence, but it clearly is.
FRAYER: Historian Sathnam Sanghera writes about how the same attitudes that led Britain to colonize much of the world still persist in some corners of this country.
SANGHERA: These people are such a small minority, but what we're seeing here, obviously, is that they've suddenly found a loud way of communicating with each other, which is through social media.
FRAYER: How to regulate that and tamp this violence is the first big challenge for Prime Minister Starmer, who took office one month ago today. Lauren Frayer, NPR News, London. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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