Residents of a hotel that houses asylum seekers could be seen laughing and filming from the building’s windows as protesters gathered below in Central London. Rival groups of anti- and pro-migrant protesters gathered outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in Islington, north London.
The two groups were separated by metal barriers and police. People believed to be migrants watched from open windows inside the hotel as protesters chanted and banged drums in the street below.
A student counter-protester outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel said he wants migrants to “feel safe” in the UK. Pat Prendergast, 21, said: “I want people to feel safe. I think the [rival protesters] over there are making people feel unsafe.
“I want to stand up in solidarity and say that, you know, we want people here. We want migrants. We want asylum seekers.”
A noticeably smaller group of protesters waved union flags and held banners outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in Islington, north London.
“Get these scum off our streets”, one man chanted in the direction of the hotel.
A large group of masked protesters dressed in black, chanting “we are anti-fascist,” appeared from a side street and marched towards the rival group outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in Islington, north London.
There were brief clashes before police rushed in to separate the two groups.