UK riots: ‘Big day’ of riots expected as first arrested over social media post
Police have deployed 6,000 specialist officers and are clearing 500 prison spaces ahead of a ‘credible threat’ at more than 30 rallies planned across the United Kingdom.
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The UK deployed 6,000 specialist police officers and began clearing 500 extra places in prison ahead of a “big day” of violent disorder at more than 30 new rallies expected across the country.
A police source said a list of locations circulated on a Telegram channel, including London, Birmingham and Manchester, was being treated as a “credible threat”.
It comes after more than 400 people were arrested following a week of protests and riots in the wake of three girls being killed at a Taylor Swift dance class.
A 14-year-old boy and a pensioner are among hundreds arrested, which includes the first person charged with ‘stirring up racial hatred’ on social media.
Despite the UK government slamming Twitter/X owner Elon Musk over “deeply irresponsible” comments comparing the riots between right-wing protesters and Islamic counter-protesters to a “civil war”, the first arrest for speech was made over a Facebook Post.
Musk, meanwhile, has joined the growing chorus against “two-tier Keir” after the prime minister cracked down on right-wing protests without mention of counter-protesters.
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‘BIG DAY’ WITH 30 RALLIES PLANNED
At least 30 rallies are planned across the United Kingdom on Wednesday, local time, according to police sources.
Rioters are plotting attacks at 39 locations targeting asylum lawyers and are using an arson manual with instructions on petrol bombs, according to Telegram chat groups seen by The Times.
The Telegram messaging group where the plan was shared has 14,000 members, and lists details of immigration lawyers, charities and advice centres across the country.
“Wednesday night lads. They won’t stop coming until you tell them,” one post said.
“Mask up. Spread this as far and wide as you can.”
One post with the plan spread on Facebook and Twitter/X with more than 125,000 views within two hours.
About 6,000 officers, or about 30 per cent of trained riot cops, have been mobilised to be better prepared than the previous week of riots, the source told Sky News.
At least one or two days more of disorder is expected before police chiefs believe the violence will de-escalate.
6000 POLICE DEPLOYED TO QUELL RIOTS
The UK government said 6,000 specialist police were ready to deal with rioting after another night of destructive troubles in English cities.
There has been a week of nightly riots in various cities since three children were killed in a mass stabbing.
On Monday, local time, six people were arrested and several police officers injured when they were attacked by rioters hurling bricks and fireworks in Plymouth, southern England.
Officers in Belfast, Northern Ireland, were attacked as rioters attempted to set fire to a shop owned by a foreign national. Police said a man in his 30s was seriously assaulted and that they are treating the incident as a racially motivated hate crime.
A group of men who gathered in Birmingham, central England, to counter a rumoured far-right demonstration, forced a Sky News reporter off air shouting: “Free Palestine”. She was then followed by a man in a balaclava holding a knife.
It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’re protesting – if you turn up in a mask, with a weapon, intent on causing disorder, you will face the full force of the law.
— Shabana Mahmood MP (@ShabanaMahmood) August 6, 2024
To those working with police and community organisations with pride and civic duty - you are the best of us.
MORE THAN 400 ARRESTED
Dozens of the 400 people arrested began appearing in court as part of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s “swift justice”.
A 14-year-old boy, who can’t be named as a minor, pleaded guilty after he was arrested for setting off fireworks. Another boy, 15, pleaded guilty to violent disorder in the city on Saturday (local time).
William Nelson Morgan, 69, admitted to violent disorder after wielding a wooden bat in Liverpool.
Daniel Robinson, 37, admitted possessing a hammer after he was found outside the Army Careers’ Office in Bolton.
Gareth Rigby, 43, was fined after he admitted using threatening words or behaviour.
Andrew Smith pleaded guilty to violent disorder in Sunderland.
Brothers Adam Wharton, 28, and Ellis Wharton, 22, admitted burglary yesterday.
Many more arrests are expected, with plans accelerated to mobilise 500 places at the HMP Stocken prison in East Midlands and the HMP Cookham Wood, for young offenders.
FIRST PERSON CHARGED OVER SOCIAL MEDIA POST
Jordan Parlour, 28, from Seacroft, Leeds, has been charged with intending to stir up racial hatred relating to alleged posts on Facebook, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
“The charge relates to alleged Facebook posts between 1 August and 5 August in connection with the violent public disorder across the UK,” said Nick Price, the director of legal services, said. “It is extremely important there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”
MUSK CALLS PM ‘TWO-TIER KEIR’
Elon Musk has joined the growing chorus against “two-tier Keir” after the prime minister vowed to protect Mosques and Muslim communities while remaining silent on the violence impacting the rest of the country.
It came after video showed protesters hurling missiles at a pub in Birmingham, some of whom were masked and raising Palestinian flags.
“Why aren’t all communities protected in Britain?” Musk captioned the video.
‘DEEPLY IRRESPONSIBLE’: UK SLAMS ELON MUSK
A UK government minister slammed American tech billionaire Elon Musk for his “unacceptable” comments on social media about far-right riots gripping England and Northern Ireland.
The owner of X drew criticism for writing that a British “civil war” was inevitable. He sparked further ire on Monday with a provocative reply to a tweet by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
“Use of language such as a ‘civil war’ is in no way acceptable,” said justice minister Heidi Alexander, branding Musk’s comments “deeply irresponsible”.
“We are seeing police officers being seriously injured, buildings set alight, and so I really do think that everyone who has a platform should be exercising their power responsibly,” she told Times Radio.
SOCIAL MEDIA AMPLIFIES ‘CIVIL WAR’ DISCOURSE
The Prime Minister’s office blamed “bot activity online”, suggesting that the false rumours could have been “amplified with the involvement of state actors”.
EuropeInvasion, an anti-immigrant X account with hundreds of thousands of followers, still has a post up falsely claiming that the attacker was “confirmed to be Muslim”.
An AI-generated image depicting Muslim men chasing a child wearing a British flag has over 900,000 views.
Technology minister Peter Kyle met representatives from TikTok, Meta, Google, and X on Monday and warned that social media users spreading misinformation will have “nowhere to hide”.
Musk — who has reduced content moderation on the platform since taking over Twitter, instead relying on user-written “community notes” — regularly voices support for right-wing causes and politicians like Donald Trump in the US and Javier Milei in Argentina.
UK TO DEPLOY ‘STANDING ARMY’ AMID TRAVEL WARNINGS
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a “standing army” of specialist police to crackdown on protests and violent riots over the murder of three girls at a Taylor Swift dance class.
It comes as Australia issued an alert for the United Kingdom warning travellers to exercise a “high degree of caution” and to “avoid areas where protests are occurring due to the potential for disruption and violence”.
Police have arrested 378 people since the protests and riots began, with the total expected to rise as more are identified and apprehended.
The Metropolitan Police chief Mark Rowley, meanwhile, came under fire for lashing out and grabbing the audio equipment of a reporter asking when the United Kingdom’s “two-tier policing” system would end.
The hashtag #TwoTierKeir trended on social media as Reform MP Nigel Farage accused the government of creating a widespread impression of double standards “ever since the soft policing of the Black Lives Matter protests”.
BREAKING: Commissioner of the Met Police Sir Mark Rowley has been seen leaving the Cabinet Office in Westminster.
— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 5, 2024
As he left, he was asked a question about two-tier policing, but Sir Mark grabbed the journalist's microphone and dropped it to the ground.https://t.co/sSlOq3trXppic.twitter.com/tbcyehnADf
PM REJECTS CALLS TO RECALL PARLIAMENT
Calls from Mr Farage and a growing number of Labor and Tory MPs to recall parliament to discuss the violence were rejected by Mr Starmer, who vowed “swift criminal sanctions” following an emergency meeting.
The prime minister announced several actions to “ramp up criminal justice”, including the “standing army” of specially-trained police officers ready to be deployed to support local forces where any further riots break out.
“There’s no two-tier policing. There is policing without fear or favour, exactly how it should be and exactly what I would expect and require. That is a non-issue,” he said.
POLICE CHIEF LASHES OUT
Mr Starmer met with police chiefs including Scotland Yard boss Mark Rowley to quell violence that first broke out in Southport, northwest England, after the arrest of Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, who is accused of killing a six, seven, and nine-year-old, and attempting to murder 10 people.
After the meeting, Mr Rowley lashed out at a Sky News reporter who asked: “Are we going to end two-tier policing sir”?
Mr Rowley can be seen in video footage of the incident grabbing a microphone off the reporter before it drops to the ground, with someone off camera asking in shock: “Did he just do that?”.
The reporter has decided not to press charges against Mr Rowley, according to Sky News crime correspondent Martin Brunt.
SKY NEWS BROADCAST FORCED OFF AIR
In Birmingham, where many of the clashes have broken out, a live Sky News broadcast was forced off the air by knife-wielding protesters shouting “free Palestine”.
A masked protester sped up behind Presenter Becky Johnson on a motorbike and continued shouting “f**k the EDL (English Defence League)”.
The camera cuts out as more protesters rush into the picture and being making trigger pulling gestures at the crew.
“The Sky News crew was followed by a man in balaclava holding a knife after speaking live from Birmingham,” Sky News said in a statement.
“The man stabbed the tyre of Sky broadcast van but didn’t damage it, so the crew was able to drive away.”
The Sky News crew was followed by a man in balaclava holding a knife after speaking live from Birmingham. The man stabbed the tyre of Sky broadcast van but didn’t damage it, so the crew was able to drive away.https://t.co/7zoRVgoBS2pic.twitter.com/vee08gIExP
— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 5, 2024
The violence is the worst England has seen since summer 2011, when widespread rioting followed the police killing of a mixed-race man in north London.
Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious leaders in Liverpool issued a joint appeal for calm
With AFP
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