The hero councillor who formed a human shield to stop violence escalating in Leeds riots

A councillor has been hailed as a hero after attempting to calm the violent scenes which erupted on Thursday night in Leeds.

Mothin Ali, Green Party councillor for Gipton and Harehills ward, said he returned home at 3am on Friday morning after trying to stop people from throwing objects and adding to the already raging fires.

He was filmed dramatically kicking away a wheelie bin being dragged towards a fire by two young people - one wearing a balaclava - and with the other hand, stopping another adult from throwing a wooden pallet onto the fire.

Appealing for calm the morning after the violence, he told The Independent: “The police weren’t around. I don’t want to criticise them but they left the scene and tried to come back and establish control - but they were being 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.

“They had no shields and no helmets. 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.”

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West Yorkshire Police battled the “serious disorder incident” in the Harehills estate while residents were urged to stay indoors as large crowds gathered in the streets.

The force pledged those responsible will face the “full weight of the law”. Leeds City Council’s chief executive Tom Riordan said a “family incident” triggered the trouble and the actions of police and social service workers were “misinterpreted”.

Recalling what was going through his mind when he intervened in the riots, Mr Ali said with a croaky voice: “This is my community, these are my people, regardless of how they behaved. This behaviour is unacceptable but we need people to step in and calm things down when they can. I have a position of authority and I have to use it.

“I grabbed the bin off those young lads, and credit to them they showed me respect and stepped away. They didn’t try anything else.

“Later on the crowd changed, and was more aggressive. I had people pushing me and shoving me. I don’t even know if I was scared, I wasn’t thinking about that. I was just thinking about my community.”

He said he received a small bump to the head but “nothing that’s going to kill me”.

Despite some seizing on the footage of Mr Ali and using it as an opportunity to blame him for the riots, many praised him for his behaviour.

Nate Higgins, another Green councillor based in 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.”

Conservative activist group Turning Point UK added “he was trying to prevent the disorder and stop bins from being pushed into fires”.

“Last night Ali was a hero,” it wrote.

Mr Ali spoke passionately about Harehills, admitting he was heartbroken by the images of violence being shared in the media and online.

He said: “We’re not the richest community in the world but the people here matter. Harehills has its share of problems, there is a lot of poverty and lots of different communities trying to make the UK their home.

“It has always been that stepping stone for immigrant communities to come, establish their foundations and move on to better things.

“We have people with language issues, who don’t understand how the system works. A lot of people have come from troubled backgrounds and all that in a pot can make them distrustful of authorities.

“Harehills is the people putting out the fire. People banding together when everyone is against us and doing everything we can to survive.

“No one wants to see the destruction on your doorstep, it was heartbreaking. It is going to have a long-lasting impact on our community.”

Nigel Farage was accused of inflaming tensions in the area after blaming the rioting on the “politics of the subcontinent”.

Labour’s Leeds Central and Headingley MP, Alex Sobel, replied to the Reform leader’s post on X: “This is a situation you know nothing about and no one has briefed you on.

“You are inflaming a situation with misinformation. Politicians have a responsibility to not exacerbate situations particularly with no knowledge of them. I expect you to issue an apology.”

The police confirmed no one so far was reported as injured but urged people to refrain from speculating about the incident.