Far-right mob pelts police and mosque after stabbing fake news
Riot police were pelted with bricks and bottles and police vans were set alight as hundreds of people rioted after misinformation about the Southport stabbing suspect was spread online.
Riot police were pelted with bricks and bottles and police vans were set alight as hundreds of people gathered outside a mosque in Southport overnight after misinformation about the suspect was spread online.
Footage posted on social media showed large flames billowing around the police vehicles. Protesters clashed with police wielding riot shields and batons with officers charging the crowds outside the mosque. There were chants of “No surrender!” and “English till I die!”
It came after Twitter/X accounts spread false claims that the 17-year-old suspect was a Muslim asylum seeker.
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, said that social media companies “need to take some responsibility” for speculation in the aftermath of the attack.
Merseyside police said that an officer suffered a suspected broken nose.
The force said that at about7.45pm, a large group of people that they believe to be supporters of the English Defence League began to throw items towards a local mosque. Additional patrols attended with police dogs.
Bricks were thrown, then bins, road signs and anything else the rioters could get their hands on. They cheered every time the crack of a window breaking could be heard.
A scared and bewildered looking boy who had been brought to the anti-immigrant protest asked the woman next to him: “Why is daddy shouting?”
APPEAL | A number of officers have been injured, cars set alight & a shop broken into & looted in Southport this evening. This is completely unacceptable. We're gathering evidence & those responsible will be brought to justice. If you have footage of those involved DM @MerPolCCpic.twitter.com/fKmyWG6o7K
— Merseyside Police (@MerseyPolice) July 30, 2024
Zulficar Ibrahim had come to the mosque to pray. He said that he could not understand why rioters had decided to target such a “unifying” place where Muslims of all sects come to pray.
“We just arrived now and the boys advised me not to go there because there’s a big problem happening,” he said. He ducked out of the way of a small rock as it flew towards him. “We never saw this type of things,” he said, adding: “This is no good for Southport.”
Officers were seen limping away from the scene. One female officer with a line of blood down her face stood steadfast holding a riot shield.
Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss said that it was “sickening to see this happening within a community that has been devastated by the tragic loss of three young lives”. He added: “In the last 24 hours, we have seen overwhelming support and sympathy from the community and wider Merseyside communities for the families trying to deal with their loss and care for victims injured during the major incident.
“The actions in Southport tonight (Wednesday) will involve many people who do not live in the Merseyside area or care about the people of Merseyside.”
Earlier in the day Sir Keir Starmer was heckled on his visit to the murder scene, with one person shouting: “How many more, Starmer? When are you going to do something?” As the prime minister’s car left, another shouted: “How many more children? Our kids are dead and you’re leaving.”
The disinformation appears to have been spread by a Twitter/X account which purports to report breaking news. Within hours of the attack, it falsely claimed that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived by boat last year and was on an MI6 watch list. The post had nearly two million views by Monday night.
Catherine Clarke, 48, a healthcare worker, was watching the violence unfold from her house. “Never have I seen anything like this in Southport. They are just idiots here to cause trouble and taking it out on innocent people, hiding behind hoods and masks, thinking they are clever. They are just yobs.”
A neighbour with an eight-year-old girl said they were moving to a relative’s home because the child was so frightened, while a boy was crying in the street with his mother after the car they were driving in got caught in the riot.
AFP
Hundreds of people attended a vigil in the town on Tuesday, falling silent for a minute in honour of the victims and in a show of support for those affected.
Police said the two wounded adults had been trying to protect the children. Tributes have already been paid to the bravery of dance and yoga teacher Leanne Lucas, who was among the victims.
A 17-year-old youth from a nearby village arrested shortly after the killings remained in custody, police added, without giving details of his identity.
They have only said that the attack was not considered “terror-related” and that no-one else was being sought. Interior minister Yvette Cooper said police were pursuing “every single avenue”.
US pop star Swift said she was “completely in shock” over “the loss of life and innocence, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone”.
“These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families,” she added on Instagram.
Hassan’s daughter was at a nearby nursery which was locked down after the attack. Her daughter was safe, “but unfortunately that’s not the reality for a lot of parents waking up today,” she added.
Local business owner Colin Parry recounted to UK media how he saw “about 10 kids go running past him, all bleeding”.
“One of them collapsed on the floor outside the neighbour next door,” he told the Press Association news agency.
– ‘Utterly horrific’ –
The teenager arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder is from the neighbouring village of Banks but was born in Cardiff, according to police.
His identity has not been revealed. Police said a name shared on social media was “incorrect and we would urge people not to speculate on details of the incident while the investigation is ongoing.” Witnesses told UK media the attacker arrived at the scene in a taxi on Monday morning and entered the venue wearing a mask.
Armed officers detained the suspect later and seized a knife. While such attacks are rare, Monday’s incident evoked memories of a school massacre in the Scottish town of Dunblane in 1996, which claimed the lives of 16 pupils and their teacher in Britain’s worst mass shooting.
King Charles III offered his “most heartfelt condolences, prayers and deepest sympathies” following the “utterly horrific” incident.
Heir to the throne, Prince William, and his wife Catherine said, “as parents, we cannot begin to imagine what the families, friends and loved ones of those killed and injured in Southport today are going through”.
Times, AFP
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