LONDON: A British Muslim social media star who travels around the country in his ice cream van has thanked police officers trying to control racist and anti-immigration riots by handing out free cones.
Mr Tee, King of Desserts, posted a TikTok video taken in the English city of Sunderland that amassed over 2.6 million views, in which he offered a police van full of officers ice creams, with the theme tune to 1980s hit TV show ‘The A-Team’ blaring.
“We just thought we’d show them a little bit of love,” Mr.Tee, whose real name is Ashiq, told Reuters.
The two-minute clip — in which one policeman asked for a special birthday ice cream for a colleague — struck a chord with the British public, the vast majority of whom think the riots are unjustified, according to a recent YouGov poll.
“This is brill — remember under the uniforms there is a dad, husband, uncle brother, human,” said commenter sayithowitis1970.
Riots have erupted at anti-immigration protests in towns and cities across Britain in the last week, with attacks by far-right groups on hotels housing asylum seekers and on mosques.
Mr Tee said most of the praise for his video came from non-Muslims who value their community.
“It’s just a very small minority that are unfortunately (not) feeling in this way,” Mr.Tee said.
Based in the northern Welsh town of Wrexham, Mr.Tee said he would take a week off to let the tensions around the country die down.
“Some people are scared to leave the house, ladies especially, they don’t want to be seen walking about with their hijabs,” he said.
But Mr.Tee pointed to the reaction to his video as a reason for hope.
“It just showed the genuine true colors of Great Britain and the people that live here, and obviously the welcoming side of the people here.”

PARIS: A luxury Parisian hotel has apologized to tennis great Serena Williams after she complained, in a social media post seen by millions, that she and her family were turned away from its restaurant on Monday.
“Yikes @peninsulaparis I’ve been denied access to rooftop to eat in a empty restaurant of nicer places but never with my kids. Always a first,” Williams said on X.
Williams, a four-times Olympic gold medalist, was one of the Olympic flame’s torchbearers during the Paris Games’ opening ceremony. She is also among celebrities who have come out to see US gymnastics star Simone Biles compete in the Games.
Her post was seen by more than 4 million viewers.
The Peninsula Paris, a five-star hotel whose gourmet restaurant offers a view of the Eiffel tower, swiftly responded: “Dear Mrs. Williams, Please accept our deepest apologies for the disappointment you encountered tonight. Unfortunately, our rooftop bar was indeed fully booked and the only unoccupied tables you saw belonged to our gourmet restaurant, L’Oiseau Blanc, which was fully reserved.”
A second message followed, saying: “We have always been honored to welcome you and will always be to welcome you again.”
Some of the responses to William’s post were supportive, saying it was unacceptable that the restaurant didn’t make room for her, others said that celebrities have no more right to a fully booked restaurant than anyone else.
Williams was much more positive after the Games’ July 26 opening ceremony, saying on X: “Have you ever had an unforgettable moment? That was yesterday for me. Truly unforgettable. From being part of an amazing Open Ceremony at the Paris Olympics — to riding in the boat in the rain — and it was pouring! So much so my lashes came right on off. Unforgettable!”

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