Far-right support dwindles as handful of thugs are confronted by hundreds of anti-fascist protesters at asylum hotel in Crawley - but police are still bracing for a weekend of fresh riots while masked demonstrators are already clashing in Belfast By Dan Woodland Published: 13:09 EDT, 9 August 2024 | Updated: 13:27 EDT, 9 August 2024 e-mail 1 View comments A small group of far-right thugs encircling a hotel being used by asylum seekers have been confronted by hundreds of anti-fascist counter protesters in Crawley. The two groups have been facing off outside a Holiday Inn in the Sussex town amid an expected anti-immigration rally this afternoon. But while hundreds of anti-racism protesters have gathered outside the hotel, there seem to be fewer than ten far-right thugs on the scene.
Police officers have subsequently been forced to provide a human barrier around the group, with one man draped in a Union Jack seen staring down a sea of counter-protesters holding placards reading 'migrant solidarity' and 'no fascism'. It comes amid a series of anti-immigrant protests and riots that swept the country in recent days with riot police in Belfast bracing for fresh clashes in the capital this evening. CRAWLEY: Police officers stand between an anti-immigration protester and anti-racism protesters at a Holiday Inn Express hotel that is being used by asylum seekers, in Crawley CRAWLEY: Protesters take part in a 'Unity Rally' as a man wearing a Union Jack jacket and flag gestures while surr.