The presence of racist thugs parading through the streets of England this summer smashing mosques, setting police cars on fire, and seemingly wanting to hurt – if not kill – asylum seekers has shocked most of the country. Many were horrified that the memory of three murdered little girls in Southport, and the attempted murder of ten others, could be abused in such a sinister way. It shows a Britain deeply divided, with a muscular minority seeking to stir up hatred of anyone deemed to be “the other”. Legitimate concerns about immigration have been hijacked by those with ulterior motives.
Yet the violence wasn’t just directed at perceived outsiders. As well as injuring more than a hundred police officers, the unrest led to journalists being verbally threatened and sometimes physically assaulted. Police in Northern Ireland are investigating an incident in which a reporter’s phone was knocked from her hand while covering riots in Belfast. A photographer in the city was, according to the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), “attacked by a crowd of masked men, who damaged [his] car and tried to enter it”. Two photographers spoke to the Guardian about the violence, one of whom was assaulted by members of the far right in Middlesbrough, the other by those protesting against the far right in Bolton. These aren’t isolated incidents. The NUJ says several of its members have been abused, attacked and had equipment destroyed or stolen during the recent unrest.
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