A gang of far-right thugs sparked terror at a Holiday Inn in Rotherham yesterday after forcing their way inside, marauding through corridors looking for asylum seekers to attack and setting fire to the building while more than 100 people were inside.
Hundreds of rioters gathered outside the hotel before attacking police, smashing their way inside and terrifying the 130 vulnerable asylum seekers inside.
At least one guest in the hotel was physically attacked and repeatedly punched until police were able to clear the floor, the Times reports.
Now those staying there have revealed they are ‘too scared to leave’ out of fear for their safety after a sixth day of escalating violence around the UK.
Just hours later, thugs attacked a second Holiday Inn in Tamworth after rumours spread more asylum seekers were being housed there. Images this morning showed shocking damage to the interior of the hotel as it, too, was briefly set alight.
Disturbing videos taken by those inside the Rotherham hotel show masked men shouting on fire.
Shocking images showed a group of about eight rioters setting fire to the building and blocking the emergency exit while residents and staff were still trapped inside.
This morning the clean-up operation began as council workers and volunteers joined forces to make the streets of Rotherham safe again.
Police officers stand near the broken windows of the hotel during far-right rioting
One man was filmed threatening to slit the throats of those inside the hotel
Serious damage has been done to buildings including hotels, libraries, local shops and homes since disorder started last week
Thugs in balaclavas hurled chairs, wood and bricks at hotels on Sunday, causing thousands of pounds of damage
Violent thugs tried to set a hotel reported to be housing asylum seekers on fire and blocked the emergency exits in Rotherham yesterday
A police dog handler during the far-right demonstration outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham
Pictures this morning showed widespread devastation left behind by the thugs, labelled far-right ‘extremists’ driven by ‘racism’ by Shadow Home Secretary James Cleverly.
Local people joined council workers to clear up around the Holiday Inn Express hotel in Manvers, near Rotherham in South Yorkshire.
Police officers stood guard outside the main entrance and at other locations around the building as teams swept up glass from the numerous broken windows at the front of the hotel.
The fire door where rioters appeared to have got into the four-storey building was boarded up but with the melted remains of a bin still in place in front.
Further damage was visible around the rear of the property where fences were ripped down, doors kicked in and more windows smashed.
Later this morning an emergency Cobra meeting is due to be held after six days of rioting and looting, sparked by the spread of false information after three little girls were stabbed to death in Southport last Monday.
Tensions rose throughout the day in Rotherham as hundreds gathered outside the hotel and began attacking police officers.
Missiles including bricks, stones, wooden planks, bins and pieces of metal were all thrown at officers and racist and Islamophobic chants were heard.
Some of the rioters began setting fire to objects and lobbing them at police, before using a bin to set fire to the outside of the building.
As officers tried to control the chaos, which politicians say has been whipped up by online hatred and racism, as well as far-right figures spreading false information, some yobs began smashing windows and broke inside the hotel.
One of those housed inside told the Times: ‘They came into this floor and hit me until the police drove them away down the corridor.’
A second said: ‘I was taking some tea when they ran down shouting ‘f*** f*** f***’. A shirtless man was shouting, and making so much noise. They broke the windows. There were eight on my floor, the first floor.’
As police rushed to clear the hotel, others were busy setting the building on fire and using barricades to block emergency exits, trapping some 130 asylum seekers and dozens of hotel staff members inside.
Volunteers pick up rubbish and debris from outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham
Members of the public with bin bags, dustpans and brushes took to the streets today
Hundreds of arrests have been made and many officers injured, with some having to be taken to hospital
Rioters attacked police officers in Rotherham on Sunday as far-right thugs led unrest
A masked thug faces off with police officers at the Holiday Inn in Rotherham while fire rages in the background
Outside the hotel in the north of England, thugs tried to force their way inside and threw chairs, bins and bricks
Riots spread from Southport across the country last week in horror scenes that have terrified communities
Islamophobic chants were heard and in some areas of the country rioters were filmed stopping cars and interrogating drivers about whether they were ‘white and English’
Police and dog handlers try to control the deplorable violence after a mob attacked a hotel
Council workers began clearing a mountain of shattered glass from outside the Holiday Inn in Rotherham today
A police presence remained in place after violent scenes on Sunday that saw windows smashed and officers attacked
Charred debris was left outside the hotel as broke fire exits were boarded up with pieces of wood
Officers rushed to clear the exits and get those inside to safety.
This morning one resident from the hotel said: ‘I wanted to cry … Maybe if they met me somewhere like in the shop they’ll do something bad to me. I’m scared to go out of the hotel.’
Chants of ‘get them out’, ‘England’ and ‘burn it down’ were all heard by those at the scene, many of whom had their faces covered.
Reinforcements meant police were eventually able to push rioters back, but they continued to engage in violence with a rock thrown at a police horse, and a video taken from inside the hotel appearing to show a man holding a machete.
At least 10 officers were injured, including one who was knocked unconscious, South Yorkshire Police confirmed later, saying one person had already been arrested and others involved should ‘expect us to be at their doors very soon’.
Masked men hurled lengths of wood, chairs and bottles, and sprayed fire extinguishers at officers outside after some 700 people gathered.
Islamophobic and racist chants were heard at multiple riots across the country, with images appearing to show some members of the mobs performing Nazi salutes.
After leaving the hotel, some thugs continued causing trouble in other areas of the town. Masked youths were seen smashing windows and car windscreens with metal and wooden bars, chanting: ‘Smash the p****’.
Now the people of Rotherham face a huge clean-up operation as they hope to avoid more scenes of violence this week.
A similar incident played out at a Holiday Inn hotel in Tamworth into Sunday evening, where reports suggested asylum seekers were also being housed.
People threw projectiles, smashed windows, started fires and targeted officers, Staffordshire Police said.
Far-right yobs watch as smoke rises after a hotel is set on fire with more than 130 people inside
Those at the riot in Rotherham set fire to the hotel before blocking the emergency exits, trapping people inside
Scenes of devastation on Monday as the clean up in Rotherham – and around the UK – begins
Yobs pulled off fence panels to throw at police as far-right extremism returned to Britain’s streets
Hundreds of people gathered as a group of masked thugs threw a burning bush inside the side entrance of the Hotel Inn Express, Leisure Island, in Tamworth yesterday evening.
Racist phrases including ‘F*** P****’ and ‘Get out England’ were graffitied on the side of the building, as police worked to extinguish the fire inside the hotel’s stairwell.
Some people could be heard chanting ‘England, England, England,’ while others threw objects at police and set off flares and fireworks. One man could be seen running towards police with what appeared to be a large speaker.
Officers clad in riot gear were seen standing in a line guarding the entrance to the hotel. One police officer has suffered a suspected broken arm.
Visiting the scene of the disorder in Rotherham, South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard said: ‘Like every decent person from this community, from my community, from South Yorkshire, from across the country, I’m horrified. I’m appalled by the violence that we saw yesterday.
‘We saw a violent far-right mob come down to attack 240 of the most vulnerable people in our society and try and burn them in the hotel in which they were living.
‘That is not OK and there is no excuse for it.’
Mr Coppard said: ‘The far right have always said to those people with little that they need to attack people with even less.
At the Tamworth hotel that was attacked on Sunday the damage was clear to see once far-right thugs had left the scene
‘And, that’s what we saw here yesterday: we saw 240 vulnerable people, who came here because in their own homes they have been persecuted.
‘They came to our country because we are a tolerant and diverse place and they faced those similar attacks that they might have faced at home here in South Yorkshire.’
Speaking this morning, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said there is no excuse for the ‘thuggery’ and ‘disgraceful criminal behaviour’ taking place across England.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, she said: ‘We saw disgraceful scenes of criminal violence and thuggery in some of our towns and cities.
‘There is no excuse for that kind of behaviour, throwing bricks at police officers, the targeting of mosques, the looting of shops.
‘It was total disgraceful criminal behaviour, and we should be clear, there will be a reckoning those criminals will pay the price. There have already been hundreds of arrests.’
She added: ‘Social media companies need to take some responsibility, we also need to make sure that criminal activity online is being pursued, and I think it’s really important that none of us forget this minority of thugs do not speak for Britain.’
Shadow Secretary James Cleverly told Sky News: ‘The things that we have seen are completely unjustified. These are the actions of people who are clearly responding to disinformation online but are obviously motivated by racism.
‘We’ve seen people with Swastika tattoos and making the Nazi salute… attacking people who have no link at all to the terrible incidents that we saw in Southport last week and it is absolutely right that the government is taking firm action.
‘When you’ve people giving Nazi salutes with Swastika tattoos that is clearly far-right extremism.
‘It’s clearly these attacks on mosques on hotels these are clearly driven by racism and should be unequivocally condemned.’
