LONDON (AP) – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has strongly condemned Sunday’s attack on a hotel housing asylum seekers. At least ten police officers were injured, one seriously. Starmer described the attack as “right-wing extremist violence.”

In a statement from 10 Downing Street on Sunday afternoon, the Prime Minister vowed that the authorities “will do whatever is necessary to bring these criminals to justice” and that the justice system will move swiftly.

Starmer’s statement came as further violence erupted across the country following a stabbing rampage at a dance class that left three girls dead and many more injured.

“I guarantee you will regret participating in these riots, whether directly or through those who instigated this action online and then ran away themselves,” he said. “This is not a protest, this is organized, violent violence and there is no place for it on our streets or on the internet.”

Starmer spoke after another day of far-right violence, particularly acute in the northern English town of Rotherham, where police struggled to hold back hundreds of rioters trying to break into a Holiday Inn Express hotel used as accommodation for asylum seekers.

Before the unrest could be brought somewhat under control, police officers wearing riot shields were subjected to a barrage of projectiles, including pieces of wood, chairs and fire extinguishers. A large trash can near a window of the hotel was also set on fire, but the small fire was extinguished.

South Yorkshire Police, which is responsible for Rotherham, said at least ten officers were injured and one remained unconscious.

“The behaviour we witnessed was nothing short of disgusting. Although it was a smaller number of those present who voluntarily chose to engage in violence and destruction, those who simply stood by and watched are absolutely complicit,” said Deputy Police Commissioner Lindsey Butterfield. “Our officers are working hard reviewing the numerous images and footage of those involved online and you can expect us to be on your doorstep very soon.”

Far-right agitators have sought to capitalise on last week’s knife attack, raising concerns about the scale of immigration in Britain, particularly the tens of thousands of migrants arriving in small boats across the English Channel from France.

The situation was also very tense in the north-eastern town of Middlesbrough on Sunday, when some protesters broke away from a police station. One group marched through a residential area and smashed the windows of houses and cars. When a resident asked why they were smashing the windows, one man replied: “Because we are English.” Hundreds of others confronted the police with riot shields in front of the town’s cenotaph and threw bricks, cans and pots at the officers.

Starmer said anyone who attacks people because of the colour of their skin or their beliefs is far-right.

“People in this country have a right to be safe and secure, and yet we see Muslim communities being targeted, attacks on mosques, other minorities being singled out, Nazi salutes being given in the streets, police being attacked and wanton violence taking place alongside racist rhetoric. So no, I will not shy away from calling it what it is: right-wing extremist violence,” he said.

The violence of recent days, which has seen a library set on fire, mosques attacked and flares thrown at a statue of wartime leader Winston Churchill, began after false rumours spread online that the suspect in the stabbing attack on the dance class was an asylum seeker, fuelling anger among supporters of the far-right.

Normally, suspects under the age of 18 are not named in the UK, but the judge in this case ordered the identification of Axel Rudakubana, who was born in Wales to Rwandan parents, in part to prevent the spread of misinformation. Rudakubana was charged with three counts of murder and ten counts of attempted murder.

Hundreds of people have been arrested in connection with the unrest, and many more are expected to be added as police scour CCTV, social media and bodycam footage. But police warned that given the extensive security measures and deployment of thousands of officers, other crimes may not be fully solved.

The high number of arrests will make it challenging for courts to process all the charges at a time when the criminal justice system is overwhelmed after years of austerity and the COVID pandemic. In May, the National Audit Office warned that courts were struggling with a backlog of more than 60,000 cases and the government said last month that thousands of inmates would need to be released early to ease prison overcrowding.

Stephen Parkinson, director of public prosecutions for England and Wales, said extra lawyers had been deployed over the weekend and would be working “around the clock” in the coming days to ensure justice is done. He said he had instructed prosecutors to bring charges immediately if there was significant evidence.

“I am determined to act quickly and forcefully and to give the courts the greatest possible opportunity to deliver judgments that do justice to the events,” he said.

Many of last week’s demonstrations were organized by far-right groups online, mobilizing support with slogans such as “Enough,” “Save our children,” and “Stop the boats.”

The rallying cries came from a diffuse group of social media accounts, but a key player in amplifying them is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, a long-time far-right agitator who uses the name Tommy Robinson. He led the English Defence League, which Merseyside Police have linked to the violent protests in Southport on Tuesday, near the scene of the knife attack.

Yaxley-Lennon, 41, was banned from Twitter in 2018 but was allowed back on after Elon Musk bought the network and renamed it X. He has more than 800,000 followers and currently has an arrest warrant out for him after he left the UK last week ahead of a scheduled hearing in a contempt of court case.

Nigel Farage, who was first elected to Parliament in July as leader of Reform UK, is also widely accused of indirectly encouraging anti-immigration sentiment, trying to link many of the country’s problems, such as health and housing, to its strong annual population growth.

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Associated Press writer Jill Lawless contributed to this report.

Pan Pylas, The Associated Press