Moment Leeds riots ended by Muslim councillor screaming at mobs to stop violence
A Leeds Green councillor and a youth support worker bravely waded into the violence in Harehills screaming 'this is our neighbourhood'.
Leeds: Councillor Mothin Ali attempts to stop people rioting
A councillor bravely waded into the violent rioting in Leeds last night to try to put an end to the violence as he screamed 'this is our neighbourhood'.
A night of violent rioting broke out in Harehills, a multi-ethnic suburb of the northern English city, on Wednesday night following social workers visiting a house in the area which led to police removing children and agency workers for their own safety.
The social workers' visit was met with fierce resistance as rioters then attacked police, and footage of attackers smashing and then flipping over a police car with a children's bicycle and various makeshift weapons has been widely shared.
READ MORE: Leeds streets in flames as violent thugs spark chaos and hurl bricks at police [LATEST]
Police were forced to return to the area several times overnight as angry mobs lit a bus on fire and smashed up a car.
Footage shared today shows the moment a Leeds Green councillor and Muslim community outreach campaigner risked his own life to try to bring an end to the violent scenes.
Councillor Mothin Ali confronted rioters in the burning street as he told them: "Stop it, stop it! This is our neighbourhood! This is our neighbourhood."
A rioter then tells him, "it's gonna get worse."
He replies: "Well don't burn it then!."
The other man with Cllr Mothin Ali, believed to be Ustadh Mohammed Adam Aslam, a local Muslim youth worker, then comes to the rioters and screams: "Who's inside that house? You gonna be blamed for their deaths?
"Think before you act! There's children in there. There's families in there. Think before you act. This is our neighbourhood.
"Those cameras are recording each and every one of us. Do you want them to come to your houses? We've got uncles who did this 10 years ago, and they've got their whole lives destroyed, for doing one silly thing, you've got brains."
Cllr Mothin Ali then adds: "This is your community, you can't treat it like this."
A rioter then says 'all right brother' to the pair.
Speaking on Reddit, one commenter said: "Absolute truth from that man. The perpetrators were all taking the opportunity to cause mayhem with zero cause behind it. Don't burn your own community you absolute melts.
"A lot of these people are going to be sorry when they get put away for all the destruction they've caused. As the other guy rightly said, this has happened before and it ruined people's lives."
West Yorkshire Police issue statement on Leeds Harehills riot:
Assistant Chief Constable Pat Twiggs said: “There has understandably been a great deal of speculation, commentary and concern following the disorder in Harehills, Leeds, overnight.
“Our officers responded to a call from Children’s Social Care at around 5pm yesterday (Thursday 18 July) after social workers reported being met with hostility when dealing with a child protection matter.
“Responding officers were attacked and helped Children’s Social Care staff withdraw to a place of safety.
"As the disorder escalated, damage was caused to vehicles and several fires set.
"We continually assessed the situation and took the decision to deploy specialist public order officers who then came under a barrage of bricks and missiles from a large group.
"A decision was taken to withdraw these officers temporarily as it was evident that the police was their sole target.
"This allowed for further community mediation to take place in order to calm the situation.
"Police then returned to the area with Fire colleagues to extinguish the remaining fires which were self-contained and didn’t pose a wider risk. By this point the crowd had diminished and officers were able to fully restore order.
"Throughout the night several arrests were made in relation to the disorder and further arrests will be made over the next few days.
"The force Major Enquiry Team have launched an investigation which will include reviewing CCTV and social media footage and images to identify the perpetrators.
"We will leave no stone unturned in our hunt for all those who were involved and will work closely with our criminal justice partners to bring them to justice."
