British police show up for Pride parade after fleeing from migrant riots

Police in the British city of Leeds came out in droves for a Pride parade Sunday after abandoning residents for hours during violent riots Thursday night.

Law enforcement flees rioters

Rioters in the Harehills neighborhood destroyed a police vehicle and set a bus aflame after Social Services agents and police forcefully seized five Romanian children from their home. Authorities were reportedly concerned about the children’s welfare following an incident in April when a nine-month-old was accidentally dropped and suffered a head injury. The parents were due to fly to Romania with their children on Saturday.

As the Social Services agents tried to remove the children, they were “met with hostility” by residents, drawing about 50 West Yorkshire Police officers to the scene around 5 PM. Riots soon broke out, and a 2,000-strong mob of Muslim and Romanian migrants began destroying government property and roads. 

Police fled, saying afterward that they were met with “a barrage of bricks and missiles.” They remained largely absent until around 1 AM as the rioters set fire to the neighborhood. Firefighters refused to enter the area, fearing for their own safety.

A “number of people” have been arrested in connection with the riot, the Daily Mail reported. According to independent journalists, one of those was a British woman who made “racially insensitive” remarks about the rioters. She was arrested on the spot.

Police reappear for Pride

On Sunday, West Yorkshire Police officers flocked to the annual Pride parade, which last year drew 75,000 people. Along with firefighters and soldiers, police marched alongside drag queens and children waving and wearing rainbow flags. West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin also joined the parade, laughing as a brass band accompanied her.

The reappearance of police angered Brits, who took to social media to express their frustration.

“Leeds Police, Fire & Emergency services at Leeds Pride today. After everything thats (sic) gone on these past few days in Leeds do you think they should be doing this?” tweeted a British netizen.

“Yesterday in Leeds,” posted Dr. Philip Kiszely above a photo of a police officer waving a rainbow flag. “Probably wearing red stilettos and lace panties. Clearly, the Harehills fiasco is already forgotten. It would be great to have a police force - as opposed to an inept and compromised customer service.”

“On the plus side, it’s Leeds Pride this weekend so we’ll get a chance to see some real police work,” wrote another user.

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