A wave of violent protests erupted across Britain, with several police officers injured during clashes between anti-Muslim and anti-immigration protesters. Three young women stabbed to death in Southport last month. Protesters hurled bricks, bottles and flares at police officers as clashes escalated throughout the day.
Riots broke out in towns and cities after false information spread on social media that a 17-year-old suspect in a stabbing attack on three children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga event on July 29 was a radical Muslim migrant.
According to police, the suspect, Axel Rudakubana, was born in the U.K. to Rwandan parents and is Christian. However, as Reuters reports, many people protested, leading to arson, violence, and looting.
Violent clashes occurred in Liverpool, Bristol, Hull and Belfast. Where hundreds of rival protesters, mostly young men, clashed with each other and the police. Anti-Muslim protesters chanted “You are not British any more” and “Get off our streets you Muslim”, while counter-protesters replied, “Get off our streets you Nazi rubbish”.
Protesters threw bricks, bottles and flares while trying to prevent clashes with each other, injuring several police officers. Protesters attacked vehicles and buses and set some cars on fire during the protests.
In Liverpool, two officers were hospitalised with suspected facial fractures, while another was pushed off his motorbike and assaulted. The protest involved about 750 protesters and a similar number of counter-demonstrators, according to Merseyside Police, which polices the city.
Two shops were vandalised and looted in Liverpool, police said.
Similar scenes were seen in other cities including Bristol, where anti-racism protesters were outnumbered by anti-immigration groups and pitted against each other while police in anti-riot equipment brought the situation under control.
Avon and Somerset Police in Bristol arrested 14 people, and Neighbourhood Chief Inspector Vix Heward-Mellon said they would “face the law for their offending”.
Police said some businesses in Belfast suffered damage to their property, while at least one business was set on fire.
Protesters in Leeds waved Palestinian flags and chanted slogans telling rival protesters: “We outnumber you.”
In Hull, three police officers were injured when protesters targeted a hotel housing migrants. Chief Superintendent Darren Wildbore, of Humberside Police, told Sky News that four people were arrested as windows at the hotel were smashed and “eggs and bottles were thrown” at officers.
Staffordshire Police arrested ten people on charges of assault, violent nuisance and threatening behaviour after bricks were thrown at police officers in Stoke-on-Trent.
Heward-Mellon said, “Some of the scenes we saw in Bristol tonight were completely unacceptable. We will always facilitate peaceful and lawful protest, however, the behaviour of a minority of people tonight crossed the line.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told police they had the full support of his ministers to take “all necessary action to keep our streets safe” from “hate-mongering” “hooligans”, Sky News reported.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper issued a stern warning to protesters that they would “pay a price” and that “criminal violence and disorder have no place on Britain’s streets”.
He said, “We have made it clear to the police that they have our full support in taking the strongest possible action against criminals, including making sure there are more prosecutors, that there is enough prison space and that the courts are ready, because anyone who engages in this type of disorder must be clear that there will be a price to pay.”
Bebe King (6), Elsie Dot Stancombe (7) and Alice Dasilva Aguiar (9) were stabbed to death in the Merseyside city on July 29. Suspect Rudakubana has been taken into custody. He was charged with 10 counts of attempted murder.
(With inputs from Reuters)