Lone Brighton protester surrounded by slogan-chanting anti-racists in wild clip

Brighton’s streets were packed with thousands of anti-racism demonstrators on Wednesday evening.

Residents came together to stand up against the rumoured arrival of far-right groups but a video shared on X appears to show police shielding fewer than a handful boxed in by police.

Armed with banners proclaiming “No to Racism” and “Education is key misinformation kills”, the crowd brought a festival vibe with banging tunes and drum beats. Police were on standby with their vans parked up, but they mingled with the protesters without aggression bubbling over.

By 7pm, it was reported that at least 500 counter-protesters had rocked up on Queens Road, spurred by online talk of far-right gatherings planned in Brighton and across England. Sussex police weren’t taking any chances and rolled out their specialist units.

Brighton and Hove News reported to have seen approximately “four or five” anti-immigration protesters.

The air was thick with chants of “Nazi scum, off our streets”. Freelance journalist Zeeshan Tirmizi wrote on X: “All of the tension and misinformation is gone now. It seems more of a celebration with thousands of people.”, reports the Mirror.

Counter-protests were organised on Wednesday in response to a particular ‘hit list’ shared on social media platform Telegram which suggested immigration centres would be under threat.

Peaceful gatherings filled roads in Birmingham, Liverpool, Middlesbrough, London, and Bristol with Walthamstow in London, attracting a significant turnout of counter-demonstrators.

Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy reported a “three-figure” number of officers on duty in the borough. She also noted that Walthamstow Central bus station has been shut down since 6pm.

But local mum Jennie Stubbs, 52, from Walthamstow, declared: “We have come down because we are not going to allow the far-right on the streets of London. They are a bunch of gutless cowards. They are going to places where there’s a lower presence of black and ethnic minority people.”

She questioned the double standards in labelling acts of violence, saying: “If this was a group of Asian men running round battering churches it would be classified as terrorism. But, when it’s a bunch of white men setting fire to mosques and hotel staff it’s not? “.

Stubbs expressed the community’s defiance, stating: “People are being terrorised in their own homes. We are not going to stand for it. Britain won’t stand for it.”