A UKIP-led protest on Saturday, 8 November, clashed with counter-protesters as it marched towards a Holiday Inn, thought to be housing asylum seekers.
The march was advertised with the slogan “Deportations Now! It’s time to take Sheffield back.” Attendees chanted and held signage challenging government immigration policy and the status of asylum seekers in the UK.
It is reported that approximately 300 people walked from Tudor Square, near the famous Crucible Theatre, to Blonk Street, where a Holiday Inn is supposedly housing asylum seekers while they engage with legal asylum processes.
Forge reporters and eyewitnesses heard UKIP marchers chanting “Death to Refugees” and “Take the UK Back”.
Speaking on Blonk Street, Nick Tenconi, the new UKIP leader, proclaimed counter-protesters should “pack their bags”. He went on to lecture supporters on the alleged dangers of migration, restoring masculinity and the need to deport the violent left, as well as “foreign parasites.”
Throughout the march, Tenconi spoke to attendees, referencing supposed “Islamofascists” and “angry, violent, weird women who pander to communism and Islamism.”
UKIP has been plagued by controversies, most recently when the girlfriend of former leader Henry Bolton was suspended for making racist remarks about Megan Markle.
This march is part of a series in the party’s ‘Mass Deportations Tour’, which aims to visit twelve cities across the UK in twelve months.
After initially seeking to meet outside the Sheffield Cathedral, the UKIP-led protest was instructed to congregate in Tudor Square by South Yorkshire Police, following the organisation of large-scale counter-protests by local groups.
Over 1,000 counter-protesters were identified across Sheffield, with many following a centralised march to Angel Street and Lady Bridge, one street from the UKIP-led endpoint.
Reports of violence occurred throughout the day, including when a UKIP attendee grabbed a Palestinian flag from a counter-protester, triggering a physical altercation. A woman was also reported to have been attacked at Tudor Square for holding counter-protest signage.
Forge spoke to counter-protesters on the day, one told us:
“Sheffield won’t tolerate racism. Refugees are welcome here. Asylum seekers are welcome here. Diversity is welcome here. We won’t leave until UKIP knows they are not welcome here.”
Another spoke to Forge about their fears about police handling.
“I became stuck in an altercation between other [protesters] and the police when I was trying to leave, as I was meeting friends elsewhere. They were pushing the group back very forcibly; some people were hurt.”
Organisers of both UKIP and the counter-protest complained about policing constraints on freedom.
The UKIP-led march was kept at Blonk Street for over an hour by South Yorkshire Police, as the two protesters were kept separate through police kettles, a tactic used to contain crowds in one non-movable space for a prolonged period.
As the police line lifted, several UKIP supporters rushed forward to confront an individual who had a large speaker playing songs including Kneecap’s ‘Hoods’ and the Star Wars Imperial March.
Further disruption occurred when the UKIP-led march passed the counter-protester at Lady’s Bridge, where bottles were allegedly thrown, causing one man to be left with a bleeding nose.
Videos on social media show UKIP members being heckled by members of the public as their security escorted them out of the city near Castlegate.
South Yorkshire Police have confirmed that seven people were arrested, and footage from the day shows several individuals being led away in handcuffs.
It is unclear at which march these arrests were made.
