A furious crowd shouting in Romanian caused a real uprising in a neighborhood in the British city of Leeds.
People overturned a police car and set a bus on fire. Several fires were lit along the street.
"Let it go down in history! Let the masked police from Bucharest come because we will knock them down too," can be heard in a recording of the moment when the crowd overturns the police car.
WY Police car flipped in Harehills, Leeds.
byu/GottsParkLad inpoliceuk
Dozens of police officers intervened, trying to calm the situation, but initially they were chased by the unruly crowd before riot police intervened.
The British media does not mention that the violent individuals were Romanians and does not specify the reason for the revolt in Leeds, but it talks about a case where social workers came to take some children from a family. As the children were being moved to a safe place, the situation escalated, writes The Independent.
A witness describes what they saw: "They were attacking police cars, throwing things at the police cars - anything they could pick up off the ground: stones from the garden, trash, drinks, anything. Drinks were definitely thrown at the police - water or juice or soft drinks, or whatever they had in their hands, basically, because [the police] were trying not to get too close as it was quite violent."
There was a bus at a traffic light, obviously stopped and surrounded by all these people. It was trying to move. Obviously, it couldn't, so the driver went back and practically stopped outside my street and left the bus there because he felt it was in danger. I saw people throwing things at the bus before the driver got off. Someone threw some cups into the bus."
A video shows a large refrigerator being thrown into the fire, while the crowd applauds and sirens can be heard in the background.
"I am horrified by the shocking scenes and attacks on police vehicles and public transport in Leeds tonight. Disturbances of this nature have no place in our society. Thank you to West Yorkshire police for their response," wrote X Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, on Twitter.
The Leeds police report that no injuries have been reported and "investigations are ongoing at the scene."
"We discourage local residents from speculating on the cause of these disturbances, which we believe were incited by a criminal minority with the intention of disrupting community relations. Officers have noticed incorrect information circulating on social media suggesting potential responsible individuals," adds the British police.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest has not yet reacted to this case.