After disturbances broke out in Leeds on Thursday night, citizens were told to stay home. A police car fell on its side and a bus was set on fire.
The nearby restaurant boss claimed that the violence was caused by children being placed in foster care and that some residents of the neighborhood reacted by starting fires and “throwing stones.”
At 5 p.m. on Thursday, according to police, they were called to an address on Luxor Street where they discovered an “ongoing disturbance” involving children and agency employees. As more people began to show up, the children and agency staff were taken to a secure location.
After 9 p.m., no uniformed police officers seemed to be at the main disturbance scene; instead, they stayed a few streets away, although a police helicopter kept an eye on things from above.
A thorough investigation into “all criminal offenses… including damage to vehicles from fire” was assured by Yorkshire police. The homicide and major inquiry teams of the force, along with detectives from Leeds CID, will thoroughly investigate all criminal offenses.
“We want to be very clear: anyone caught doing this will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
West Yorkshire’s mayor expressed relief that no one had suffered serious injuries, but she advised those using this to incite tensions within the community to reconsider.
A bus was set on fire on Foundry Approach earlier, as the chaos spread, sending flames towering above the red brick homes and billowing thick black smoke that was visible for miles. Residents threw water collected from nearby homes onto the bus, which burned for several hours.
Additional officers have been dispatched to the scene to aid in the handling of this incident, West Yorkshire police stated as the crowd grew. People should avoid the area during this time due to the implementation of some road closures.
Being off Harehills Lane, Riesa, a pharmacy employee who declined to provide her last name, said: “They were attacking police cars, throwing things at the police cars – really anything they could pick up off the floor.” garden stones, trash, beverages, anything.
“When you look out the window, you can see that people were attacking cars that were attempting to pass them at the traffic light. However, the cars wouldn’t turn around, probably because they were getting scared of all the people.
“Each of them paused for the bus at the stop sign. He attempted to pass but was unable to do so. Sensing that he was in danger, he simply reversed and stopped the bus just outside of my street. Before the driver got off the bus, I witnessed people hurling objects at it. Glass was hurled at the bus by someone.
Two of First Bus’s vehicles were involved in the chaos, according to a representative for the company in Leeds, but neither the drivers nor the passengers were hurt. “Fortunately, the driver and passengers had already been transferred to another bus, so when one of our cars caught fire, it was empty. We are rerouting all services from this Harehills area to ensure the safety of our customers and employees. When determining when regular routes will resume, we will heed the police’s advice and notify customers as soon as we can.
Usman, one of the witnesses, said that earlier in the day, he saw police leave the area to try to calm things down. “I spoke with a sergeant, who informed me that the fire was beginning to subside after they decided to withdraw to put it out. Police decided to disengage.”
Then riot police arrived and set the whole thing off. The riot police withdrew after bricks were hurled. The bus was then set on fire by them.
Others on the street were given drinks and shelter by bystanders in the streets surrounding the scene. “This is excessive”. “This is unlike anything I’ve seen here.” Remarked a woman in the area
West Yorkshire police reported that no injuries had been reported.
Even though it seemed to defuse the situation, some people were upset that there was no visible police presence. “The police don’t care about our area,” a man stated. They just left, so we’ll take care of it.
