The New Dark Age

Instead, what we have seen is terrorised communities and numerous anti-fascist counter-demonstrations called to defend them. Community and anti-fascist groups have come together to defend homes, businesses and places of worship, sometimes having to offer physical protection against far-right violence.

Netpol has spoken to several frontline legal groups who have been supporting the counter-protests by monitoring the police. Their experiences reveal how policing operations have been far more chaotic than portrayed in the media, and have frequently targeted anti-fascists while failing to contain far-right violence.

The government have been quick to position the police as the ‘thin blue line’ holding back violent disorder, and Keir Starmer has promised to create a so-called “standing army” of riot officers. But legal observers and others told us officers were often more interested in anti-fascists and in legal observers who were monitoring the use of police powers than the far-right groups attacking communities.

They also documented incidents of the police racially profiling Black and brown youth attending anti-fascist protests, and aggressive and Islamophobic policing of racialised protesters attempting to defend their own communities.

You can read our full report on policing of the riots on the Netpol blog.