On Thursday, riots broke out in the English city of Leeds when, according to witnesses who spoke with the Telegraph, social services allegedly removed a number of children from a home after a baby suffered a head injury. Things quickly became violent, with those taking part in the unrest filling the streets and pummeling a police car with anything they could get their hands on. Another police car had been flipped over in the streets.
As night fell, a double-decker bus was torched and a number of other fires were started in the middle of the street. No members of law enforcement were reported to have been injured.
According to the West Yorkshire Police, the incident took place around 5 pm on Luxor Street in the Harehills neighbourhood. In a statement, the force explained that upon arrival, officers "found an ongoing disturbance which involved some agency workers and some children. More people started to attend the location and a decision was made to remove the agency workers and the children to a safe place."
"A crowd started to gather and more officers were requested to attend the area, where some pockets of disorder were occurring," the statement continued. "More officers have been deployed to the area to assist with the management of this incident. Some road closures are also being implemented and people are advised to avoid the area at this time. No injuries have been reported and enquiries are ongoing at the scene."
A spokesperson for the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service told the Daily Mail that it was "aware of a fire in the open in Harehills, Leeds at present," and that, "as it stands the fire in the street is not impacting on public safety or buildings and as such we are allowing it to burn its self out." The police force had reportedly remained "relatively absent" from the riots since they first responded at the scene around 5 pm until around 1 am on Friday. Residents in the surrounding areas were left to their own devices to defend their homes from the "violent" thugs.
The Daily Mail also reported that the children removed from the home and their family are of Romanian heritage. On Friday, West Yorkshire Police said a number of people had been arrested following the riot and "further arrests will be made over the next few days."
In a statement on Twitter, Home Secretary and Labour MP for Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley Yvette Cooper said she was "appalled at the shocking scenes and attacks on police vehicles & public transport in Leeds tonight," making it clear that, "Disorder of this nature has no place in our society."
