William Freeman 2nd Vice Chair | DeKalb County Republican Party
William Freeman 2nd Vice Chair | DeKalb County Republican Party
British police have raided and arrested an 11-year-old child for participating in recent anti-immigration protests, some of which turned violent.
Local police confirmed the arrest on Thursday as part of a broader crackdown against political dissidents and those involved in the demonstrations.
The Evening Standard reports:
"Police have arrested an 11-year-old boy suspected of taking part in riots in the North East earlier this month. The young boy was one of 14 people arrested during a series of raids in Teesside carried out by Cleveland Police in the early hours of Wednesday."
The force has now arrested 110 people following widespread unrest in Hartlepool and Middlesbrough, described as some of the worst seen in recent history.
Before police officers set out to carry out raids on Wednesday morning, Superintendent Marc Anderson briefed them, saying: "I was Silver Commander on Sunday August 4 and never in my 30 years’ service have I seen anything like that in Middlesbrough."
"What the community had to put up with that day was completely unacceptable."
While some protesters likely engaged in criminal activity, the police are under orders from the country’s new left-wing government to come down hard on anyone involved in the recent disorder.
During the summer of 2020, similar violent protests broke out across Britain in response to the death of George Floyd and the global Black Lives Matter movement. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was then leader of the opposition, made clear his support for protests and even photographed himself "taking the knee" in support.
Meanwhile, there are concerns about potential censorship or shutdowns of social media platforms after Elon Musk's X platform was blamed for inciting violence due to its stance on free speech.
###
Alerts Sign-up