Police appealed for information to identify eight protesters accused of throwing missiles and shouting racist abuse at a demonstration outside a hotel housing illegal immigrants in Aldershot, Hampshire on Thursday.
Hampshire Police said a minority of the 200 people outside the Potters International Hotel became involved in the disruption on Wednesday night.
Appealing for witnesses, a spokesman said in a statement: “Unfortunately, at around 6.45pm, a minority of the 200 people present got involved in criminal activity, throwing objects and subjecting people to racial abuse.
“Our officers were swiftly on scene and were able to disperse the group quickly.
“Sadly, one of our officers suffered a minor injury as a result of the disruption.
“We have immediately instigated a thorough investigation to identify those responsible, which includes reviewing evidence from our officers’ body-worn cameras, footage captured by our colleagues at National Police Air Service and CCTV cameras in the local area.
“This is taking place alongside our inquiries with witnesses at the scene and engagement within the local community.”
Assistant Chief Constable Paul Bartolomeo said: “Our role is to protect people’s lawful right to protest, while also preventing serious disorder and disruption to the local community and this is what happened last night.
“It is totally unacceptable to turn that lawful right into criminal acts including incidents of criminal damage, racial abuse and intimidation. This will not be tolerated in Hampshire and Isle of Wight.
“Our specialist teams are working hard to identify anyone who has committed a criminal offence and we will take swift and robust action against those people.”
Alex Baker, Labour MP for Aldershot, alleged the situation had been “exacerbated” by people from outside the community.
In a statement posted on social media platform X, she wrote: “There is no justification for disorderly behaviour and these scenes do not represent Aldershot and Farnborough.
“We all support our shared right to peacefully protest, but we will not stand for people coming to our towns determined to stir up trouble and divide our community.”
Media reports suggest the hotel has been used to house illegal immigrants since 2022, and attempts to book a room at the establishment via online booking sites at any point for the rest of 2024 results in a message saying no rooms are available.
There also do not appear to have been any reviews from people who have stayed at the hotel in the past two years.
The new Labour government has promised to end the policy of using hotels to house immigrants, but has not put a timeframe on when the practice will stop officially.
The Epoch Times has contacted the Home Office for comment.
Starmer Promises Clampdown
In London, more than 100 people were arrested after protesters on Whitehall launched beer cans and bottles at police and lit flares in Parliament Square.
Hartlepool in County Durham saw demonstrators set fire to a police car and pelt officers with missiles, with 12 people arrested, including an 11-year-old boy.
There was also unrest in Manchester with officers confronted by a group who started throwing bottles.
The unrest prompted a press conference from Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Thursday in which he vowed to clamp down on the “far right.”
