Britain is bracing for more anarchy tonight as far-Right thugs use social media and encrypted messaging apps to plan violence across the UK.
Nearly 6,000 police officers have been drafted in after a list of 39 locations where the yobs could wreak havoc – including immigration centres, refugee shelters and lawyers’ homes – emerged late last night.
Leaked messages from what appear to be far-Right Telegram channels show those involved threatening the lives of anti-racism campaigners, using sick slurs and exchanging tips on how to ‘hood up’ as they prepare for fresh demonstrations today.
The chaos which has engulfed Britain’s streets since the Southport stabbings last week has brought parts of the country to a halt, with medical appointments cancelled as staff are too scared to go to work.
One immigration law firm named on the hit-list was found to have boarded itself up this morning, with other businesses including pubs and hairdressers following suit as fearful communities brace themselves for a fresh wave of violence and turn to the police to protect them.
It comes as the authorities warn those taking part they could face terrorism charges in relation to the thuggery which has been cheered on by some online personalities, while more than 100 people already face court dates over the riots.
Businesses which are fearful of being caught in the firing line of the far-Right violence have taken preemptive action, with some deciding to close rather than risking becoming collateral damage.
In Westcliff-on-Sea, in Southend, one immigration firm which provides assistance in immigration cases, boarded up its doors and windows in the face of a potential protest outside tonight.
In Walthamstow the Nags Head pub announced it would be closed today due to the potential for unrest after the area was named on the online hit-list as a target.
Hair salons and cafes in Barnsley and Brompton also joined the growing number of businesses refusing to open today.
In Sunderland, Italian restaurant Sambuca said: ‘Although we have faith in Northumbria Police we cannot take the risk to be caught up in violent riots like the ones that happened a few days ago.’
In Bristol, which is on the list of potential targets, one lawyer said he had not been this fearful since the heyday of the BNP.
The threat of violence has also hit sporting fixtures, with a women’s county cricket match between Essex and Kent in Chelmsford tonight being postponed in light of the planned protests.
The carnage that has raged over the last week has hit medical appointments in some areas, with GPs cancelling evening services in the north east because staff were ‘frightened to go to work’.
Paul Williams, a general practitioner based in Stockton, told the BBC that some medical workers do not feel safe in the wake of the riots.
He said: ‘I’ve checked on a few friends over the past few days and they’ve told me there are parts of the town that they do not feel safe working in at the moment.
‘It is totally devastating that some are frightened to go into work because of the fear of intimidation.’
Some medical clinics in Middlesbrough and Hartlepool were also cancelled earlier this week in the face of riots that saw police attacked and cars set on fire, although services have since returned to normal.
In Sunderland two Filipino nurses who were on their way to provide emergency cover at a hospital were targeted by far-Right thugs who threw rocks at their taxi.
The Royal College of GPs (RCGP) said yesterday that there had been ‘horrific and unacceptable’ abuse and violence towards health workers, ‘especially those from ethnic minorities’.
It’s chairwoman Professor Kamila Hawthorne said: ‘We have been shocked and appalled by the civil unrest, criminality and racist attacks we have seen across the UK in recent days.
‘We’re particularly concerned to hear reports of GPs, members of their teams and other healthcare professionals, especially those from ethnic minorities, being targeted with abuse and violence. This is horrific and completely unacceptable.
‘Healthcare professionals dedicate their lives to caring for people in need. They deserve to be able to do their jobs without fear of being attacked or abused and both staff and patients deserve to be able to travel to and from surgeries safely.’
One Bristol-based lawyer claimed this morning that he hadn’t been so concerned for his own safety in years.
Aziz Deen told BBC Breakfast: ‘I’ve been advised to work from home because my office is right where the protests begin, I feel threatened and I haven’t felt fear like this since the BNP were in full force.
‘Solicitors, especially those focusing on asylum and immigration should not be targeted in anyway. Policy is not in their hands, policy is in the hands of politicians.
‘To go after the people who represent asylum seekers and lawful migrants who come here on work sponsorship and the like, to attack them and make them feel threatened is disgraceful.’
Last night police in the city met with the Bristol Muslim Strategic Leadership Group (BMSLG) to reassure the community that there will be no threat to mosques and their livelihoods by rioters.
Adeela Shafi, of BMSLG, said: ‘People are feeling scared, intimidated, worried and are not sure where this is going.’
She added: ‘It’s the worst it’s been for a long time, because of course we’ve now got social media you’re having messages flying around left right and centre.
‘[There’s] a lot of uncertainty and anxiety, fretfulness about “what should I do – should I close my business, should I keep my kids at home?”
‘Trying to reassure these communities that the police and the authorities are doing their best to keep us safe and for people to be able to go about their usual business.
‘At the end of the day we live in a democracy and people should be able to protest, however the disorder we’ve seen is the frightful thing.’
The threat of violence has seen some charities close their doors in a bid to keep people safe.
In the north east of England one refugee charity, which has not been named, said its volunteers had been racially abused in public, while another said people who used its service were ‘terrified’, the BBC reported.
It comes as the wave of anti-immigrant sentiment continues to swirl around on certain online sites, with one group chat on Telegram listing potential targets for today.
Towns and cities across England – from Aldershot to Wigan – were named as places for demonstrations, with organisers saying ‘they won’t stop coming until you tell them…’.
One message – posted to the group’s 15,000 members – said: ‘The n*****s will try to abuse the unrest to steal. It’s in their blood to do so.’
Another called for the death of Nick Lowles, the founder of anti-extremism charity Hope Not Hate. The horrific call-out said: ‘If anyone wants to go down in a blaze of glory, take this man with you.
‘Death to Nick Lowles. Any man who takes his life will be a hero to the cause.’ One extremely disturbing reply read: ‘How can I do it, I’m game.’
Mr Lowles has responded to the threats, calling the man involved ‘serious and dangerous’.
And a further post told would-be rioters to wear masks, hoodies and leave their phones at home, underneath a photo of a young man in a balaclava and the tagline: ‘White n radical.’
An assistant chief constable has urged people to ignore a list of locations, which has been shared on social media as possible targets for gatherings, saying police will be waiting.
Andy Mariner, of Essex Police, said there is ‘disinformation on social media’ talking about activity in the county on Wednesday, adding: ‘Our message is clear – ignore it.’
‘If you’re planning on coming here intent on disorder, we will be waiting for you, and you will be arrested,’ he said.
‘There is information going around on the internet highlighting specific locations around the country and some of those details of locations are just plain false, including here in Essex.’
Nearly 6,000 public order officers have now been mobilised to respond to riots over this week, police sources have told the BBC.
They have said that the situation is ‘manageable’ – adding that they hope Britain is now ‘through the worst’ of the chaos, although they are ready if it escalates again.
Violent riots have already exploded across several cities including Manchester, Liverpool, Plymouth and Birmingham following the Southport knife rampage which claimed the lives of three young girls and left many others injured.
False speculation online that the teenage suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK on a boat has fuelled the unrest which started outside a mosque in Southport and has since spread across the UK.
The misinformation is believed to have originated from a Russian-linked fake news website.
Right-wing groups have organised dozens of protests from Liverpool to Hull and Middlesbrough to Plymouth – with many filled with anti-immigrant rhetoric. Riots have seen hotels housing migrants set on fire and police attacked with bricks or bottles.
More than 400 people have now been arrested and Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson has said the thugs could face terrorism charges as the legal system mobilises to bring offenders to justice.
The CPS chief hit out at those who had used the internet for the ‘purposes of incitement and planning’, telling the BBC: ‘If you’re engaged in that activity, then you can be prosecuted for the substantive offence that you have caused (due) to what you’ve been doing using the internet.’
And in a warning to those acting outside the UK, Mr Parkinson said: ‘Some people are abroad. That doesn’t mean they’re safe.
‘We have liaison prosecutors spread around the globe who’ve got local links with the local judiciary and law enforcement, but also the police are also stationed abroad.’
In measures reminiscent of the 2011 London riots, magistrates courts are operating round the clock to process rioters and releasing mugshots of some suspects after they have been charged in an effort to name and shame them.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer – who was himself Director of Public Prosecutions between 2008 and 2013 – said the criminal justice system has shown a ‘robust and swift response’ in the face of ongoing unrest.
A supposed ‘target list’ of 39 areas where further riots are planned for Wednesday was yesterday leaked on social media. A police source told The Mirror it was treating the list as a ‘credible threat’.
‘It’s being watched closely and we are ready to respond,’ they said. ‘We have got thousands of extra officers and where there’s credible, specific intelligence, officers will be put in place and will be ready to respond immediately.’
They added: ‘Wednesday is going to be a busy day. We are assessing what is credible and what isn’t but we have a lot more resources stood-up now than we did at the weekend.
‘Some is planned but also a lot is sporadic in terms of local people seeing stuff online and turning up out of the blue. It’s quite a nuanced picture.’
A message on encrypted platform Telegram shows that 39 towns and cities could be braced for more violence.
Five of the organisations on the list told the Financial Times they were planning to shut tomorrow and urged employees to work from home.
The list includes locations such as Aldershot, Canterbury, Bedford, Birmingham and Derby.
The list, which was reposted on social media, came with a threatening caption above it which reads: ‘THEY WON’T STOP COMING UNTIL YOU TELL THEM…
‘NO MORE IMMIGRATION. 8PM. MASK UP.’
It added: ‘SPREAD THIS AS FAR AND WIDE AS YOU CAN.’
Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood said anyone wearing a mask to a riot would be prosecuted.
‘It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’re protesting — if you turn up in a mask, with a weapon, intent on causing disorder, you will face the full force of the law,’ she wrote on X.
Counter-terror officers and detectives from regional crime units are also involved in targeting far-Right ringleaders of the chaos and violence which has swept Britain.
Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to take ‘all necessary action’ to end the far-Right riots.
The Prime Minister told Cabinet today that ‘people across the country want their streets to be safe and to feel safe in their communities, and we will take all necessary action to bring the disorder to an end’.
Among the stories of Brits being targeted by far-Right thugs was the owner of a Middle Eastern supermarket in Belfast, whose shop was ‘singled out’ by young yobs, as a boy and the shop behind him was pelted with eggs.
It allegedly came after the youths tried to steal from the store but were challenged by staff, as the Police Service of Northern Ireland are investigating it as a hate crime.
It came after another supermarket, owned by a Syrian man, was torched after rioters targeted it twice.
Owner Ali Moustafa Wartty said that police had confirmed his had been the only shop targeted, in incidents that date back to the start of the year.
He told the Belfast Telegraph: ‘They have been singling us out.
‘Police said they cannot do anything – it’s very difficult for me, I have a number of businesses in Belfast and I will have to move them.
‘I’m very disappointed in Belfast.’
But today – in a show of hope – locals turned out to help chase off the youths and support the local store.
As many as thirty stood outside the shop in a show of unity as the threat of far-Right action continued in the Northern Irish city.