{"id":711412,"date":"2026-07-26T03:05:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T03:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/711412\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T03:05:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T03:05:20","slug":"far-right-group-throws-bottles-at-police-in-glasgow-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/711412\/","title":{"rendered":"Far-right group throws bottles at police in Glasgow clash"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n At least 1000 anti-racism campaigners gathered at Glasgow Green<\/a> on Saturday to counter the Unite the Clans rally, with the demonstration organised by a coalition including Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) and Women Against The Far Right, and supported by groups such as the University College Union and Refuweegee.\n<\/p>\n

\n The counter-protest began an hour before the far-right rally, assembling at the McLennan Arch from 11am ahead of the noon gathering by Unite the Clans supporters.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n Police Scotland<\/a> said officers were responding and “a number of arrests have already been made”.\n<\/p>\n

\n Police were seen chasing and holding back Unite the Clans demonstrators who ran towards an anti-fascist group, with many on both sides wearing masks.\n<\/p>\n

\n Punches were thrown as the anti-immigration group approached anti-racism campaigners, while projectiles were thrown into the anti-racism crowd.\n<\/p>\n

\n Helicopters circled the park, one of the city\u2019s busiest, as police managed to separate the groups near Saltmarket in the city centre.\n<\/p>\n

\n Those taking part in the Unite the Clans rally chanted \u201csend them home\u201d and held placards reading \u201cstop the boats\u201d, as blue smoke billowed from the park.\n<\/p>\n

\n READ MORE: I was at the Unite the Clans rally when it turned violent. Here’s what happened<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n There were big cheers during a speech in which a protester said \u201cit\u2019s wonderful being white\u201d and \u201cI love being white\u201d.\n<\/p>\n

\n One man was heard saying: \u201cI\u2019m a Nazi and I love it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Anti-racism protesters, who outnumbered the anti-immigrant demonstrators, shouted \u201cNazi scum\u201d at the group as well of chants of \u201cthere are more of us than you\u201d.\n<\/p>\n

\n Some anti-racism protesters shouted \u201cscum\u201d at police.\n<\/p>\n

\n The force had announced ahead of the event that it would run a dedicated operation at Glasgow Green to “minimise disruption,” with chief superintendent Emma Croft confirming officers would be deployed to “support public safety” while respecting people’s right to protest lawfully.\n<\/p>\n

\n Unite the Clans, which previously operated under the name Aberdeen<\/a> Against Illegal Migration, had promoted the Glasgow rally as an opportunity for supporters to voice concerns about asylum seekers, urging followers to “stand united” to “protect women and children.”\n<\/p>\n

\n The gathering followed weeks of smaller anti-immigration demonstrations across Scotland, including in the Gorbals, Castlemilk and Cranhill in Glasgow, as well as in Aberdeen.\n<\/p>\n

\n A poster advertising the rally featured emblems of the neo-fascist group Britain First and was linked to a member of Patriotic Alternative in Scotland.\n<\/p>\n

\n READ MORE: Residents defying evacuation order near Cairngorms wildfire criticise response<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n Stand Up to Racism has described the group as a fascist organisation seeking to “build a street movement” opposed to migrant, LGBT<\/a>+, women’s and Palestinian rights.\n<\/p>\n

\n First Minister John Swinney<\/a> said ahead of the rally that while everyone has the right to protest peacefully, he “disapproves” of the substance of the marches.\n<\/p>\n

\n He said: \u201cI disagree with the far-right agenda, I disagree with the intolerance perpetuated.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cObviously, Police Scotland is well prepared for the march that will take place at the weekend.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt is essential that public safety is respected and that people respect the rule of law. That includes on hate crime.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cPeople going around spouting hateful messages will not be tolerated by Police Scotland or this country.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Zamard Zahid of Women Against Far-Right Scotland accused organisers of “weaponising women’s safety and violence against women” by staging the protests in the aftermath of the sexual assault allegations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At least 1000 anti-racism campaigners gathered at Glasgow Green on Saturday to counter the Unite the Clans rally,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":711413,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-711412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=711412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/711413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=711412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=711412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=711412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}