Calls to find racist Exeter thugs

Appeals after six attacks

MPs, councillors and members of the public are calling for help in tracking down a group of young men involved in six separate attacks in Exeter this week, using Coronavirus as an excuse to beat people up.

Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw's Tweeted an appeal. "Please do what you can to help Devon and Cornwall Police find these racist thugs," he says.

On behalf of Exeter University, where a teenage Chinese victim studies, provost Janice Kay says: “We are appalled to hear that young people have been attacked in Exeter on the basis of their ethnicity in relation to coronavirus. We condemn these ignorant and cowardly attacks and we are working closely with the police and local partners to investigate and tackle hate crime in our community.”

The 19-year-old was threatened with a knife on Wednesday morning by four white men. In the early hours of Friday morning, two Asian men were attacked by four or five white men in Sidwell Street in the city centre.

Amongst people writing on the Radio Exe Facebook page, Terryann Taylor says: "I am filled with shame at the ignorance of their attackers." Martin Hitchcox thinks organisations like Radio Exe are to blame: "It's appallingly but you'll never stop stupid, ignorant or aggressive behaviour. The media have much to answer for," he writes. And John R. Smith says simply: "Not in our city!"

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