Screaming children dragged from home in video 'which sparked Leeds riots'
The shocking video reportedly sparked the violent unrest in Leeds last night, as a mob attacked police officers and set a bus alight.
Leeds: Police and social services take children from a home
Leeds descended into mob violence last night after hundreds of people wreaked havoc in the suburb of Harehills. The thugs flipped a police car, torched a bus, and forced officers to flee for their lives, with scenes of carnage shared widely across social media.
The unrest erupted after social workers removed four children from a house in Leeds. The children, all under 14 years of age, were taken into social care. The removal set off a night of violent unrest between the community and police.
A video reportedly showing the removal incident has emerged. The clip, posted to TikTok, shows distressed children being dragged by police from their home and put into a police van.
The clip shows a primary school-aged boy wearing a football shirt struggling to break free as a policeman takes him out of the house. Outside the house, people can be seen protesting furiously and trying to prevent them from being taken.
The child looks visibly upset and appears to be shouting.
Moments earlier a teenage girl is also taken from the house to the waiting police van.
Earlier this afternoon, West Yorkshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Pat Twiggs laid out the timeline of events last night. He confirmed that the incident involving the children's removal triggered the unrest.
He said that police were deployed to a home in Harehills at around 5pm yesterday after social workers were met with hostility when dealing with a child protection matter.
The police officers were attacked when they arrived as they tried to help the social care workers to safety.
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Mr Twiggs said: "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."
He confirmed that several arrests have already been made and that further arrests will be made over the next few days.
This comes as a heartbroken father issued a desperate plea for his children to return home after they were "taken away by the police".
The dad told the Mirror: "Please bring my children back. I want them back. Why take my kids? They were taken from us."
A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said that while this is an ongoing police matter, it would not be appropriate to comment further on any alleged circumstances surrounding what happened.