Norfolk House on Wellesley Road and Croydon Mosque were among possible targets for the racist rioters, as community protestors across the country took to the streets to show unity against the far right
Late night line-up: police with riot helmets and shields at West Croydon last night
Today, August 8, marks the 13th anniversary of the start of the Croydon riots, which lingered on for days, saw people’s homes and businesses burned to the ground, and one man killed.
Last night, August 7, saw Croydon left largely unscathed after justifiable concerns that the racist far-right would target the borough for one of their lager- and cocaine-fuelled “protests”.
With the police applying a dispersal order across the whole of Croydon, the deployment of more than 1,000 additional officers in London and just 15 arrests across the whole capital, those threats of mass rioting and violence came to nothing, as in most cases anti-racist protests passed off mostly peacefully, while fascist rallies failed to materialise.
After a week of riots and public disorder across the country, and a series of highly publicised arrests, they do now, however, now have a hashtag: #FarageRiots.
This morning, Sir Mark Rowley, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said: “We put thousands of officers on the street last night.
Warning: Met Commissioner Si Mark Rowley
“The show of force from police – and frankly the show of unity from communities – together defeated the challenges we have seen.”
And he had a warning: “We will throw the full force of the law at offenders. Being a keyboard warrior does not make you safe from the law.
“If you are committing crimes on the streets, or online, we will come after you.”
Inside Croydon had been made aware earlier this week that an English Defence League-style “protest” outside Norfolk House, on Wellesley Road – known locally for housing refugees – was planned for Wednesday, potentially for the kind of hate-fueled, rabid violence seen at other migrant centres around the country in the week beforehand.
Croydon Mosque had also received warnings that it was a potential target of the far-right Islamophobes. On Tuesday night, an urgent meeting was held by almost two dozen leaders of Croydon mosques to discuss who they could best respond to defend their communities, homes places of worship and businesses.
Putting the moronic into oxymoronic: Croydon Council tried to deceive the public
Publicly Croydon Council, meanwhile, chose to deceive the public, with the local authority’s social media – amplified by Mayor Jason Perry and an assortment of loyal Tory councillors – risking more ridicule when it spouted the oxymoronic line about there being “no police intelligence”.
It was as if Perry and Katherine Kerswell, the council CEO, were crossing their fingers and hoping any trouble might just go away.
Statements from Scotland Yard clearly contradicted the messaging from Perry and Fisher’s Folly. “We know about the events planned by hateful and divisive groups across the capital tomorrow night,” the Met said on Tuesday. “They’ve made their intention to cause disruption and division very clear.”
So while Croydon Council decided that the best way to defuse a potential tinderbox situation was to lie to the public, the Met Police, the Mosques and community groups prepared and acted.
Around Croydon town centre and near West Croydon railway station – where the August 2011 rioting first ignited – office workers were sent home soon after lunchtime, just to be on the safe side. Shops, including Primark and Sainsburys, closed early and pulled down their shutters.
TfL closed West Croydon bus station at 6pm, presumably based on “no intelligence”.
Shutdown order: the S60 notice applied to the whole of Croydon
Just after 7pm, following similar measures applied in other parts of London, the Metropolitan Police applied a Section 60 order across the whole of Croydon, giving officers extra stop and search powers, while also requiring people to remove face coverings.
The rhetoric from Scotland Yard was also noticeably different, almost conciliatory, towards those who condemned and supported the targets of race hate demos.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Valentine said: “We have more than 1,300 public order officers ready to deploy across London in addition to thousands already working in our communities.
“We will not tolerate any disorder and will make arrests.
“We are also using a range of specialist teams including mounted units, dog handlers, intelligence experts and evidence gatherers.
“We will be using retrospective facial recognition to help officers identify those behind criminal disorder. This technology can be used even when offenders are wearing masks.
“Our thanks goes to Londoners who condemn the hateful and divisive behaviour which is fuelling significant concern among our communities.”
The Met had also identified that much of the additional crowd control work that police across the country had had to face had been stirred up on social media. “Everyone can play a role by not sharing inflammatory online speculation and giving our officers space to undertake their important duties,” DAC Valentine said.
“It is our privilege to be part of a city pulling together at an uncertain time. You will see more officers on patrol. If you are concerned, or need help, speak to them. They are there to help.”
On the move: a group of young men patrolled the streets on London Road near West Croydon
DAC Valentine described the thousands of anti-fascists who took to the streets in Walthamstow and Finchley as passing “without major incident or disruption”.
But he added: “However, officers did face anti-social behaviour from a small group in Croydon who were not related to any protest, but were intent on causing trouble.
“Our top priority has been to keep our communities safe, prevent significant disorder and swiftly deal with any offenders. A number of arrests were made across the city this evening.”
Early in the evening, a large group of what were thought to be mainly Muslim young men, many wearing balaclavas, were seen on London Road, West Croydon, sometimes shouting “allahu akbar”. Despite some reports, none appeared to be armed.
If they were on the streets looking for the far-right “protesters”, they were to be disappointed.
Early gathering: the Met Police later thanked communities for standing up against the threats of racist violence
Police said that a group of as many as 50 gathered at West Croydon, and a line of officers, in hi-viz vests and riot helmets, was seen to withdraw initially.
In Walthamstow, the anti-racist march was estimated to number 10,000. Hundreds more turned out for a peaceful demonstration in Harrow. “A wonderful atmosphere full of love not hate,” said one of those attending.
“Lots of kuffiyehs and Palestine flags,” said another. “Harrow is anti-fascits and its anti-Zionist.”
There were protests elsewhere in the south-east, too, such as in Brighton where, again, a crowd numbering thousands gathered to demonstrate against the far-right hate-mongers. High-level photographs show the crowd and a small group of hi-viz police, who had gathered around the handful of racists who had shown up, to keep the groups safely separated.
Brighton rocks: police in h-viz can be seen kettling a handful of far-right ‘protesters’ as the Brighton community turned out to reject their version of ‘nationalism’
In London, DAC Valentine said, “We used a range of powers as part of our policing operation in order to keep people safe. This included the use of Section 60 and 60AA powers across various locations, giving officers extra powers to stop and search people and request the removal of face coverings. As a result, officers seized a number of weapons.”
In Croydon, the Met the crowd had “dragged and thrown objects…”, which appeared to be wheelie bins “…down the road and thrown bottles at officers. This is not linked to protest, this appears to be pure anti-social behaviour.”
There was, according to the Met, one arrest in Hounslow, four in Waltham Forest, but 10 arrests in Croydon – one for “assault on an emergency worker”, one for “going equipped for arson”, four arrests for “breaching a Section 35 dispersal order” and four for “violent disorder”.
“I want to thank our communities for coming together across the capital and for showing community spirit this evening,” Valentine said.
“I would also like to thank the committed officers who have been working hard to police London today, serving their communities and keeping people safe.”
Read more: Council puts staff on standby in case of rate-hate rioting
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