LONDON — The British capital was tense Wednesday as police, fearing a possible outbreak of the right-wing rioting that erupted elsewhere in Britain in recent days, flooded into several neighborhoods with large immigrant populations.
But the handful of anti-immigrant demonstrators police encountered in neighborhoods like Finchley and Harrow were vastly outnumbered by hundreds of counterprotesters carrying signs that said “Refugees Welcome” and “Racists Out, Refugees In.”
And in the east London neighborhood of Walthamstow, an even larger gathering of more than 5,000 anti-right protesters chanted “Love, not hate” while hundreds of police officers kept watch.
More than 1,000 officers were deployed throughout the city Wednesday, said Andy Valentine, deputy assistant commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police Service.
Most of the protests and counterprotests occurred without any major incidents, Valentine said.
“I want to thank our communities for coming together across the capital and for showing community spirit this evening,” he said.
Police did encounter “anti-social” behavior in Croydon from a small group who were unrelated to the protests. The group was intent on “causing trouble,” Valentine said.
Overall, 10 people were arrested in Croydon, the south London town, including one person accused of assaulting an emergency worker and four accused of violent disorder, police said. Four people were also arrested in Waltham Forest, including two accused of weapons offenses that included a knife and a golf club, while another person was arrested in Hounslow and accused of possessing a weapon, police said.
There were also large and peaceful protests in support of refugees Wednesday in the cities of Birmingham, Sheffield, Southampton, Liverpool, Newcastle and Bristol.
“I’m here to stand up for human rights,” Jones Percival, 25, a plumber, said in Finchley. “I don’t believe in fascism. People of all colors and creeds are welcome.”
While Percival spoke, like-minded protesters began chanting, “Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here!”
One of the anti-immigrant protesters in Finchley was carrying a St. George’s Cross flag, England’s national flag, which is regularly flown by far-right groups. Police quickly confiscated it.
Another anti-immigrant protester, who identified himself as Paul and said he was 55 and from north London, said “I think this country is at boiling point” and blamed the French for not stopping asylum-seekers from reaching the British shore.
“I don’t care what color you are, but this country has become a soft touch,” he said. “We pay the French to stop the migrants, but they turn a blind eye to the asylum-seekers coming to this country. We need to stop them. We voted for Brexit to stop this, and it hasn’t happened.”