It began with a meeting to protect a mosque amid rumours of a far-right demonstration on Monday.
But what began as a peaceful demonstration in Bordesley Green, a suburb of Birmingham, soon turned violent, culminating in an attack on a pub in which one of the pubgoers “ruptured his liver”.
Sean McDonagh, 51, was punched and kicked outside the Clumsy Swan pub after dozens of men carrying Palestinian flags broke away from the main group.
Footage on social media showed him being punched in the pub’s front garden by a man wearing a black puffer jacket and hood. He told The Telegraph he was taken to hospital after the attack and the Muslim community later rejected his apology.
At around 5pm on Monday, Muslim men wearing masks and headgear first gathered outside the Village Islamic Centre Mosque in Bordesley Green.
The crowd, some waving Palestinian flags and shouting “Allahu Akbar”, had emerged following rumours that far-right demonstrators were planning to raid the neighbourhood that evening.
After six days of riots in which mosques across the UK were targeted, young men joined forces – with one seen wielding what appeared to be a large stick.
As the evening progressed, the reports proved to be false and no far-right crowd appeared, but the gathering soon turned into a violent march through the city streets.
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In one clip capturing the chaos, Sky News’ live broadcast was interrupted by a masked man speeding behind journalist Becky Johnson on a motorbike, shouting: “Yo, liberate Palestine, f— the EDL.”
The broadcast was quickly ended and security was sent to the reporter, according to Sky News. The broadcaster said a masked man stabbed a tyre in one of the broadcast vehicles but did not harm him.
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People then walked away from the mosque and further east. Footage posted online at 8.47pm showed chaos in Alcombe Grove, Stechford, about a mile and a half away. A blue Skoda was seen driving through a group of rioters who attacked the car and smashed its windows.
It is not yet known who the driver was or why his vehicle was attacked, but the anger and violence of the rioters is unmistakable.
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In the late evening the crowd moved south down Stoney Lane towards the Clumsy Swan pub where patrons were enjoying karaoke.
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It was here that Mr McDonagh was attacked by several men.
The footage shows the masked man in a black puffer jacket entering the pub’s front garden and punching him. As he falls to the ground, another rioter kicks him in the head.
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The pub’s assistant manager, Linda Fogarty, 60, could only watch from inside. She had heard the crowd was heading towards the pub and had barricaded other customers inside, piling chairs and tables against the front door.
He told The Telegraph: “I got everyone in, got the chairs in, got the customers in, got the staff in, locked the doors. And then it just escalated from there, they tried to kick in the door, broke all the windows… It wasn’t great.”
Footage from inside the bar showed frightened drinkers looking out as they saw rioters swarming around the building and firing missiles at the bar.
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Friends Gabrielle O’Toole, 51, and Victoria Jones, 42, were in the pub before the crowd arrived. Speaking on Tuesday, the pair said it was “nonsense” for police to intervene.
Ms O’Toole said: “I was there from the start. I can tell you there was a police car parked at McDonald’s and not a single officer came out while I was there. It’s two-tiered policing.
“When I was there, I felt really sorry for the police because they didn’t stand a chance. It turned into racism. It’s complete nonsense, they’re petrified, they’re outnumbered and they know they can’t do anything. It was a massacre there.”
On Tuesday, Muslim community activists led by Naveed Sadiq, who was not involved in the riot, visited the pub and apologised for the violent scenes.
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On Tuesday evening, West Midlands Police confirmed that an attack on a man who was drinking outside the Clumsy Swan was being investigated as a violent incident.
Police also said in a statement that a 46-year-old man was arrested by police who reviewed television footage showing a man with a gun.
Investigations are also continuing into damage to windows at the pub, an attempt to slash a tyre on a Sky News vehicle and damage to a Skoda that was forced onto a grassy area after being attacked.
The incidents have also caught the attention of Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter X, which was formerly known as Twitter, who has been in a row with Downing Street over how police were handling widespread riots across the UK.
Mr Musk described the Prime Minister as a “two-tiered Keir” in a comment on X in response to a video showing the crowd storming the pub. He captioned the video footage: “Why aren’t entire communities protected in Britain?”