00:00Thousands of people have taken to the streets of towns and cities across England in counter
00:05demonstrations against a wave of riots by anti-immigration protesters.
00:10More than 6,000 police officers were mobilised on Wednesday evening from Newcastle to Birmingham,
00:16Liverpool to Brighton, Sheffield to London.
00:19Apart from some isolated incidents in Aldershot and Chatham, the marches have been largely peaceful.
00:25The unrest came after misinformation was spread online that the suspect in a fatal
00:34stabbing of three girls in Southport just over a week ago was a Muslim asylum seeker.
00:40The first prison sentences for violent disorder have been handed down to rioters involved.
00:45The men, all from Liverpool, have been jailed for between 20 months and three years.
00:51Inquests into the deaths of the three girls have been formally opened and adjourned until
00:56the end of criminal proceedings, the senior coroner giving her condolences to the families
01:01and friends of the girls.
01:04With more on the counter-protests, here's our correspondent Jo Inwood reporting from Bristol.
01:11The city had been braced for trouble.
01:14So this part of Bristol is where a couple of immigration lawyers are based,
01:16whose addresses have been leaked online.
01:19And there was a real fear there could be a far-right process taking place here today.
01:24But we've been here the last couple of hours and there's not a sign of that.
01:27Instead, something very different has happened.
01:33Thousands of anti-racism protesters, trade unionists,
01:37members of the local black and Asian community, students, took over the streets
01:42in what was broadly a good-natured evening, but one that sent a message.
01:46I feel ashamed for our country right now.
01:49It's just we're not representing ourselves in any sense of a manner that's admirable at all.
01:56You can see a lot of places are boarded up.
01:59So there's been a lot of fear about what could happen.
02:03And it just felt really important that we were here to protect our community.
02:09It was a picture repeated across the country.
02:12Walthamstow in London saw vast crowds,
02:15gathered, as in Bristol, to oppose the far-right.
02:19While there were colourful scenes in West London.
02:27In Sheffield, police had prepared for trouble, but none came.
02:32In Croydon, although there were a few arrests, things were generally peaceful.
02:38While a march between two mosques in Accrington was greeted by people drinking at the pub.
02:44And this was the scene in Newcastle.
02:46Of course, protect our mosques, because we believe this is our house and this is house of God.
02:52And I think for them to stand up and really want to go around and
02:57try to destroy our mosques is something really heinous.
03:03There were some isolated incidents.
03:05Aldershot was seemingly one of the few places the right-wing protests materialised.
03:11In Brighton, they were so outnumbered, they needed police protection.
03:18According to the man who used to oversee the police,
03:20it's not only the counter-protests that kept the far-right off the streets,
03:25but also swift prosecutions.
03:27The techniques and the instruments that the police have now
03:31for identifying people, even with face coverings,
03:34I won't go into detail, are very, very advanced.
03:37OK.
03:38And also, it is an offence to have a face covering,
03:42to maintain a face covering, if ordered, to take it off by a police officer.
03:46So I think that the community has come together,
03:51and I think it's an extremely positive step.
03:55Back in Bristol, and while there was a heavy police presence all evening,
04:00by 10pm, there had only been one arrest.
04:05So this is Castle Park in Bristol, and it's here on Saturday
04:07that there were running battles between the far-right and anti-fascist protesters,
04:12and there had been real fears that those scenes could be replicated tonight.
04:15But as you can see, nothing has materialised,
04:17and it seems across the country that picture has been repeated.
04:21And both government and the protesters on the street tonight
04:24will be hoping that this could be a turning point.
04:27Jo Inwood, BBC News in Bristol.
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