BMW set upon and Eastern European men inside attacked - how violence surged in one city

Men threw bricks at the car while another performed the Nazi salute

Of all the violent scenes in UK towns and cities at the weekend, one of the most shocking happened in Hull - when an angry crowd of white men surrounded and attacked a car with men the police have now identified as Eastern European inside.

Videos of the incident shared on social media show the crowd charging towards a silver BMW and forcing open its doors, and attacking those inside.

In one video, a person in the crowd can be heard shouting a racist slur and the word "foreigners" is used. In another video someone shouts "get them".

BBC Verify initially reported in this article that the men inside the car were of Asian heritage, however Humberside Police has since told the BBC they are Eastern European.

Swarm of angry men

The attack on the BMW happened in the north-west of Hull city centre on Saturday afternoon.

Analysis of social media videos by BBC Verify suggests the vehicle and its occupants were set upon at about 16:45.

In one video, large black plumes of smoke can be seen rising into the sky. The person filming moves down Hall Street and towards a car park - where a car is ablaze and a car horn is ringing out.

Then the BMW swings backwards around the corner from Milky Way, as it tries to escape a large mob.

The car is trapped on the kerb and is quickly swarmed by angry men, several of whom are masked and using what look like screwdrivers to smash the car’s tail lights and to try to prise open the car doors and grab the people inside.

Men can be seen throwing bricks and a shopping trolley at the car. Another man can be seen performing the Nazi salute.

In the background of one of the videos, you can hear someone shout, “get them lads, get the [expletive], smash that shit up”.

A man in a St George’s flag T-shirt can be seen trying to smash the BMW’s windows. Using facial recognition software and social media profiles, we have identified him as John Honey.

He appears in other videos showing looting later in the day in the city centre. He has since been charged with violent disorder, three counts of robbery, two counts of burglary and criminal damage, and is in custody. Humberside Police said on Monday afternoon that a total of 28 other people had been arrested.

Around the car, a man with a large rucksack on his back, opens the front passenger door and appears to hit a man several times.

About 10 seconds after the car is trapped, a man manages to scramble out, having lost one shoe. He is then chased by a masked man with a metal bar.

The video then pans right and riot police can be seen approaching. This appears to trigger the mob to scatter.

The men who fled the car are then seen unharmed about 20m (66ft) away from the attack.

We don’t know who they are and it is unclear whether any other people were travelling in the car with them.

The camera then pans across the chaotic scene to show there are other cars on fire with thick black smoke filling the air.

Another man BBC Verify has identified as being present at the incident - using facial recognition tools and confirmed by comparison with social media profiles - is Connor Londesborough. He can be seen in footage standing next to the car and speaking to some of the attackers but not joining in the attack.

A few days before the protest he had shared a post from the National Defence League - an anti-immigrant online group - that read ‘‘prepared for peace, ready for war”.

It has previously been reported that Londesborough had a conviction in 2019 for kidnap, arson and robbery.

He told the BBC he had been present at the protest in Victoria Square earlier, and said he was only at the car attack incident to stop others from attacking the car.

‘Try and be as sober as you can be’

Several hours earlier, crowds had gathered in Hull city centre.

Online posters with the words “enough is enough” had been shared calling for people to meet in Victoria Square at midday.

One Facebook post suggests this had been initially organised by “Hull Patriotic Protestors”, a private group which lists a number of concerns including “the influx of illegal invaders in our city” and “the economic decline and financial neglect of our City”.

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Another Facebook advert asks for attendees to “try and be as sober as you can be” and that “it is important to remember this is not about the colour of a person’s skin”.

It says the event will start with a vigil for the three girls murdered in Southport.

Footage of the protest shows a man delivering an anti-immigrant speech and a counter-demonstration close by. The two groups are kept separate by a row of police officers.

‘Send them home’

At about 13:15, a BBC colleague saw members of the Victoria Square crowd five minutes' walk away outside the Royal Hotel, where asylum seekers are reportedly housed. He says he saw several throw projectiles at the hotel - damaging windows.

In videos we have analysed, a large group of people can be seen behind metal barriers in front of the hotel shouting chants of “send them home” and “get them out” in front of riot police. Bottles, flares and bricks were thrown at officers.

Later, at 15:33, right-wing activist Tommy Robinson, posted on X that the hotel housed “unvetted migrant men at the taxpayers expense”.

In the hours after the BMW was surrounded and attacked, crowds would once again form in the centre of the city - and looting would start.

People gathered on Jameson Street. The earliest looting videos on social media we have identified are from 18:38 and show the O2 phone shop being ransacked.

We have also seen footage of looting in Shoezone, where a large pile of shoes was brought out and set on fire, Greggs the bakers and cosmetics retailer Lush.

Additional reporting by Richard Irvine-Brown and Paul Brown

Correction: An earlier version of this article identified the men in the car as of Asian heritage. Humberside Police has since told the BBC they are Eastern European.