On Saturday October 9th, the English Defence League (EDL) brought their heady mix of football hooliganism, racism and copious quantities alcohol to Leicester. There was a mobilisation by local anti-fascists, with local youth organising to defend their own communities.

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Previous feature: Anti-fascists to face EDL in Leicester

While Leicester appears to have been a more successful demo than their recent trip to Bradford, anti-fascists suggest the EDL's "crowing about what a good time they had in Leicester" is unmerited.

As has happened elsewhere (including Nottingham), police, the local council and "community leaders" made a concerted effort to ensure that as few local residents joined the protests against the EDL as possible. Reportedly, messages were sent round all the schools, community centres, places of worship and even hospital staff, that people should stay at home. This approach seems to have been broadly successful.

Leicestershire Police had prepared for the protests by organising the largest police operation in the county since the miners' strike. They had also controversially, decided to issue their own "press cards" to journalists an inexplicable move to undermine the independece of reporters which drew the ire of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ).

The police operation did little to quell disorder. The EDL were more than happy to kick off and put in the windows of the Independent Arts Centre. Later in the day, between 3-4pm, a small group of around 100 EDL broke out of the police pen, began attacking local black and asian people, before heading for the predominantly asian Highfields area. Local people halted their progress at Humberstone Road and they ended up trying to go through the retail park where they got beaten up by riot cops.

There was a tense stand off whilst police kept back the angry crowds of locals on Humberstone Road and locked down all access roads into Highfields. Once again it was clear that the biggest effect that the EDL coming to town had had was to make people who weren't white afraid to walk around in their own city.