Research from the IRR on charging and sentencing after the far-right-orchestrated racial violence in England in summer 2024,[i] finds that attacks could be traced back to scare statements about immigration and two-tier policing and that courts failed to acknowledge the full extent of the racism behind the riots.
Interim research findings[ii] released today relate to a preliminary analysis of 101 prosecutions that followed right-wing mobilisations against asylum accommodation, mosques and other symbolic locations in towns and cities across England.
Interim findings:
On racially-motivated violence
- Racially-motivated violence inflicted on communities clearly mirrored dominant political and media statements, including slogans, such as ‘stop the boats’ and ‘taking our country back’. It was also infected by far-right claims about two-tier justice, with claims such as ‘you’re protecting them while they target kids’ and ‘nonce protectors’.
- Racially-motivated violence included organised attempts to attack mosques, set fire to buildings with migrants inside, and opportunistic attacks on individuals from racialised communities. Attacks were accompanied by threats to kill and calls for mass deportations and the public identification of buildings and community resources accessed by migrants and refugees.
On the response of the criminal justice system
- The courts, with a few exceptions, have failed to acknowledge the full extent of the racial dimension within the violence. The official position from government, that the rioting was evidence of ‘thuggery’, and ‘violent disorder’ existing ‘across the ideological spectrum’, has been reproduced in prosecution and sentencing.[iii]
- One-in-five of those prosecuted (in the cases studied) were individuals responding to the riots – amongst whom are migrants and refugees, those who attended anti-racist mobilisations and/or those who defended community buildings and Muslims who defended mosques.
The research is conducted by IRR Research Associate Dr Jon Burnett (Senior lecturer in Criminology at the University of Hull) and IRR Director Liz Fekete.
All inquiries: Kaiisha Kukendra (Communications Coordinator) kaiisha@irr.org.uk
[i] Though our research focuses on the responses of the criminal justice system in England, the riots also affected many towns and cities in Northern Ireland which has a different criminal justice system.
[ii] This is a one-year research project and full findings will be available later in the year.
[iii] At a Downing Street press conference on 1 August 2024, the prime minister, speaking of the threat posed by ‘criminality’ and ‘thuggery’, announced the creation of a new national ‘capability’ across police forces to combat violent disorder across the ‘ideological spectrum’.