A local councillor, Mothin Ali, has been lauded for his heroic efforts to quell the violence that broke out on Thursday night in Leeds.
Ali, a Green Party councillor for Gipton and Harehills ward, returned home at 3am on Friday after attempting to prevent people from fueling the fires and throwing objects. He was captured on film kicking away a wheelie bin that two young individuals, one masked, were dragging towards a fire. Simultaneously, he stopped another adult from throwing a wooden pallet onto the fire.
Speaking to The Independent the morning after the unrest, Ali appealed for calm, saying, “The police weren’t around… They left the scene and tried to come back and establish control – but they were pelted with bricks and bottles and were chased off.”
“Our neighbourhood police team are fantastic and actually care about our community, but they didn’t have the resources or the support they needed… Me and a couple of others tried to form a human shield. We stood in front of the bricks and bottles and tried to give the police a way of retreating.”
West Yorkshire Police grappled with the “serious disorder incident” in the Harehills estate, urging residents to stay indoors as crowds gathered. The force vowed that those responsible would face the “full weight of the law”. Leeds City Council’s chief executive, Tom Riordan, attributed the disturbance to a “family incident” that was “misinterpreted”.
Reflecting on his intervention, Ali, his voice strained, said, “This is my community, these are my people, regardless of how they behaved… I have a position of authority and I have to use it.”
Despite some criticism, many commended Ali for his actions. Nate Higgins, a Green councillor from Newham, London, wrote on X, “Mothin Ali out here acting like an actual freaking superhero… Somehow doubt some of the people on here will recognise his heroic behaviour tonight.”
Ali expressed deep sadness about the violence in Harehills, saying, “We’re not the richest community in the world but the people here matter… It is going to have a long-lasting impact on our community.”
Nigel Farage faced criticism for allegedly escalating tensions by attributing the riot to “the politics of the subcontinent”. Labour’s Leeds Central and Headingley MP, Alex Sobel, responded, “This is a situation you know nothing about… You are inflaming a situation with misinformation. I expect you to issue an apology.”
The police reported no injuries but cautioned against speculation about the incident.
