The far-right rioters came for a hotel housing 130 asylum seekers. They laid siege to the grey Holiday Inn building in Yorkshire with bricks, chairs, and fire extinguishers, smashing open glass windows and marauding through corridors shouting obscenities at people who had fled their homelands for the sanctuary of Britain. Residents told The Times reporter Tom Witherow that they were terrified of being harmed.
One shared a video of a rioter threatening to slit the throats of those in the building. This was just one moment during six days of disorder in Britain this month. The riots were sprawling and sometimes messy in narrative, but sprung from the unthinkable stabbing of children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport.
The tragedy of that day was weaponized by online agitators who disseminated viral falsehoods about the alleged assailant being a Muslim asylum seeker. Elon Musk saw the anti-immigration rage and stoked it. TikTok and Telegram allowed it to fester on their platforms.
The far-right’s online venom spilled onto the streets. South Asian residents feared for their safety. The British screen industry was not immune from the unrest.
TV journalists were caught up in the violence and major employers moved to prioritize staff safety, with the likes of Sky and Disney allowing people to work from home . Others signposted welfare support for employees from diverse backgrounds or made accommodations. Raise the Roof Productions, for example, provided a chaperone .