Groups clash during anti-racism protest
HUNDREDS of protesters clashed yesterday during a Black Lives Matter march.
The demonstration in Bolton was met by a counter-protest, and police were forced to keep the two sides apart amid angry scenes.
Officers were forced to intervene between the two groups on several occasions yesterday.
A fence had been erected around the town’s war memorial with counterprotesters claiming they had gathered to ‘protect’ the monument.
Meanwhile, a group of people gathered at Manchester’s cenotaph to ‘protect it from desecration.’
About 150 people, including ex-servicemen, joined the gathering in St Peter’s Square yesterday.
Trouble broke out at a much bigger gathering in London called by groups including Britain First who urged people to guard monuments around the nation.
On Friday, statues in Parliament Square including of Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi, were boarded up to prevent them being targeted by protesters both from the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and right-wing groups.
Protests against police brutality and racism have erupted all over the UK and across the globe following the death of African-American George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police nearly three weeks ago.
Last week, the statue of slave trader Edward Colston was pulled down and dumped into Bristol harbour by Black Lives Matter protesters, while the UK’s war-time Prime Minister’s memorial in London was defaced with the words ‘was a racist.’
But the Manchester event passed off peacefully.
One man told the M.E.N: “I’m here to protect that from vandals. That’s it. I’m not here to counter-protest. I’m not against BLM.”
Another said: “The public have got to become the police for some crazy reason. It sends a really unfortunate message around the country. It’s down to us to protect statues because our police will just stand by and do nothing.”
Another man said: “What people are neglecting to notice is that there’s black, Indian and every ethnic group that fought for this country and this is where they are laid to rest.
And we are here to respect every one of them people. That’s all we are here for. We are not organised. We are doing it off our own backs. It’s a lot of ex soldiers enjoying themselves and making sure those guys are safe.
“A lot of those are personal friends who have died and I will not allow these people to be dishonoured.”
Others at the event said they were protecting the memorial from ‘desecration.’
Manchester city council’s city centre spokesman, Coun Pat Karney tweeted: “I have not heard it was a target. We have four cameras on it to protect the memory of those who died for all of us.”
TWO people have been charged after a petrol bomb attack on a house.
In the incident at Fairfield Road in Middleton on Wednesday a man, aged 20, inside the property suffered burns to his hands.
Now two people have been charged.
Ashley Mcarthur , 20, of Kildare Crescent, Rochdale, has been charged with the following offences:
Arson with intent to endanger life; Section 47 assault; possession of an offensive weapon in a public place; possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence; use of a motor vehicle on a road without insurance; and dangerous driving.
Kayleigh Dolan , 20, of Hollybank Street, St Helens, has been charged with possession of an offensive weapon in a public place. Both were remanded in custody and appeared at Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court yesterday.