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In Britain, Thursday’s referendum vote to leave the European Union has unleashed a toxic wave of attacks, some violent, on anyone who counts as the other — Muslims, people from elsewhere in Europe and British people with roots in south Asia.

A script keeps repeating itself: We had a vote on immigration and voted against you, so get out.

British police report a 57 per cent rise in hate crime since Thursday’s vote.

Birmingham Labour MP Jack Dromey wrote yesterday of “… seeing profoundly disturbing evidence of a wave of racial abuse and attacks because of how immigration was handled in the Referendum campaign.”

A list of incidents pile up relentlessly.

Warning: the rest of this story contains links to images of violence, and racially abusive language.

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Monday afternoon, a man, described as tall and white, firebombed a halal butcher near Birmingham. The bomb bounced off a man working in the store and exploded, gutting the inside.

A halal butcher in Walsall was petrol bombed yesterday. This is so far from the country I thought I belonged to. https://t.co/5ufdxI9QKv — Dave Sylvester (@sylvesterdave) June 28, 2016

Early this morning, young men on a tram in Manchester shouted “Get back to Africa!” at another passenger, along with other terms of racial abuse. The resulting confrontation was shared on social media. Four teenagers were later arrested.

Three people have been arrested following an apparent incident of racial abuse on a tram in Manchester.https://t.co/tt9HZljn2H — Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) June 28, 2016

On Saturday, the far-right English Defence League protested at a mosque in Birmingham. The demonstration attracted a heavy police presence; there were two arrests.

2pm today in Sheldon near Solihull West Midlands. Banner says "RAPEFUGEES NOT WELCOME" And they made Nazi salutes. pic.twitter.com/DdYHCPX3uD — Media Diversified (@WritersofColour) June 25, 2016

This video captures something of the tension:

Britain’s referendum on leaving the European Union was seen by many as a referendum on immigration. Rules on movement within Europe meant that many people from other EU countries migrated to Britain in search of work, and the Leave campaign was in large part a backlash.

Here’s a UK Independence Party poster from last year:

Boris Johnson, a more mainstream pro-Brexit advocate in the Conservative Party, framed the case more carefully than UKIP.

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“One of the reasons why you are seeing a rise in extremism and far right politics in Europe is because of people’s feeling that they are not being consulted about immigration and about the numbers, and the politicians who are meant to be in charge can’t control it,” he said last week, distancing himself from UKIP’s Nigel Farage.

As last Thursday’s vote approached, the Brexit referendum campaign took on a disturbing dark side.

READ MORE: How Brexit may pave the way to Scottish independence

On June 16, Farage attracted angry controversy when he unveiled a billboard showing a crowd of refugees in the Balkans in 2015 reading “Breaking point: the EU has failed us all. We must break free of the EU and take control of our borders.”

Almost immediately afterward, Labour MP Jo Cox, a mother of two young children, was murdered near her constituency office by a man associated with the far-right nationalist group Britain First. Britain First has a place on the same spectrum as UKIP, but is more extreme. Cox’s accused killer shouted “Death to traitors! Freedom for Britain!” when asked his name during a court appearance.

The Twitter hashtag #postrefracism has revealed dozens of disturbing incidents in the last few days. Some target Europeans living in Britain, including children:

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(A “deputy head” would be a vice-principal in Canada.)

Our neighbour is a deputy head and she said there were Polish kids crying because they were scared that they were going to be deported. — Nihal Arthanayake (@TherealNihal) June 25, 2016

Gloucester @Tesco: 'this is England, foreigners have 48 hours to f**k right off. Who is foreign here? Anyone foreign?' #Brexit — Max Fras (@fullofeels) June 24, 2016

We’ve now added the full audio of Karen’s heartbreaking 8-minute call to @mrjamesob about facing xenophobia https://t.co/qJPoebtNmo — LBC (@LBC) June 28, 2016

Italian person I was w/ last night was assaulted for asking how someone voted. Knocked out w/ a bottle, lost a tooth, stitches. I'm scared. — Kirsty Allan (@kirstyrallan) June 26, 2016

"Get the f*k out of my cab and get the f*k out of my country". My (French) mate David experiencing #PostRefRacism in London after 18 years — Mat Guil (@matguillarme) June 28, 2016

This is real. I was harassed today in a London high street b/c a man heard me speak with an accent. @skeuomorphology https://t.co/P2m1YiI7vl — Marianna Koli (@mariannakoli) June 25, 2016

beig multilingual and multiple cultural identities should be celebrated – not a source of fear! #PostRefRacism pic.twitter.com/9RgVzJgynK — Post Ref Racism (@PostRefRacism) June 27, 2016

Some updates from our Facebook page. Spanish and Turkish restaurants have their windows smashed in #PostRefRacism pic.twitter.com/IBBG02aYoG — Post Ref Racism (@PostRefRacism) June 27, 2016

So I just saw four men yelling "fuck off" at the staff in a Polish shop. — Alan White (@aljwhite) June 26, 2016

Non-white British people have also been targeted:

My friend's kids, who are black and British, had "so long, farewell" sung to them all day at school yesterday. I want my country back. — Owen Barder (@owenbarder) June 28, 2016

In utter shock: just been called p**i in my home town! Haven't heard that word here since the 80s..! — Sima Kotecha (@sima_kotecha) June 27, 2016

A woman shouted "There's one of them, send that back" as a Sri Lankan child walked past with his mum. — Ciaran Jenkins (@C4Ciaran) June 27, 2016

On Friday my niece was on a field trip. A man shouted at school girls: "So is this a **** Islam fishing group?! Where's the white people?" — Aisha S Gani (@aishagani) June 26, 2016

Just arrived at a 78% Muslim school. White man stood making victory signs at families walking past. This is the racism we have legitimised. — Dr Karen Bateson (@KarenJBateson) June 24, 2016

@PostRefRacism Yday morning a woman called me a "dirty paki", "scum" and said "pakis need to be rounded up and shot" among other insults — Ayesha (@ayesha_sk) June 26, 2016

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So less than 20 hrs after Brexit results announced, I have the pleasure of being called "a Paki c*nt in a suit" by a homeless man. — Banking Buddha (@TheBuddhaSmiled) June 24, 2016

Men chanting 'OUT OUT OUT' @ Muslim women in Brockley. Woman in an Enfield bank shouting 'this is England we're white get out of my country' — kerem (@KeremBrulee) June 25, 2016

With white supremacists now so openly active, some ask what dangerous forces the referendum has unleashed, and where they could lead.

Writing in the Spectator columnist Nick Cohen argued that “… the Tory leaders of Vote Leave … are creating the conditions for a mass far-right movement in England.”

READ MORE: Brexit: 4 scenarios eyed to keep Britain EU despite the vote to leave

The Leave leaders actually can’t reverse the multicultural immigration that has changed Britain since 1945. When that becomes clear, Cohen predicts, their followers will become more bitter, extreme and violent:

“I fear that millions of voters and their leaders in the press and on the streets will say that the’ guilty men’ have ‘lied’, ‘betrayed’ and ‘stabbed us in the back’. The opportunities for the brutish leaders and financiers of UKIP, and the greater brutes of Britain First and the (far-right British National Party) appear dizzying.”