Riots erupted in cities and towns last week after three girls were killed in a knife attack in Southport, northwest England. So far 420 people have been arrested.
The killings were exploited by anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim groups as false information spread online that the suspect in the killings was an Islamist who had just arrived in Britain. The police announced that the suspect was actually born in Britain and that he does not treat the murders as a terrorist incident.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the rioters felt “emboldened by this incident to incite racial hatred”. They threw bricks at police officers, looted shops and mosques, and attacked Asian-owned businesses.
Over the weekend riots broke out in Liverpool, Bristol, Tamworth, Middlesbrough and Belfast in Northern Ireland, with masked youths draped in British flags throwing stones and shouting “Stop the boats” – a reference to migrants arriving in recent years on southern British coasts.
In Rotherham, northern England, protesters attempted to storm a hotel housing asylum seekers.
– Police criticize internet misinformation –
Police have stressed that the violence is fueled by misinformation on the internet, which is spread by high-profile individuals. One of the most prominent of these figures, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who heads the anti-Islamic organization English Defense League, is accused by the media of spreading false information among his 875,000 followers on the X social network.
“They are lying to you all,” wrote Yaxley-Lennon, who goes by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson. “They are trying to turn the nation against me. I need you, you are my voice.”
Elon Musk, the owner of X, also contributed to the violence. Responding to a post on X that blamed mass immigration and open borders for the unrest in Britain, he wrote: “Civil war is inevitable.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said on television that tensions had been multiplied and ignited via the internet and that the government would raise the issue with social media companies.
“I think what you saw is that networks of different people and organizations tried to add fuel to the fire,” the minister told Sky News, avoiding questions about whether foreign states were involved.
While he said people have opinions and concerns about issues such as immigration, he blamed the violence on extremist, racist and violent organisations.
“Sane people who have these kinds of views and concerns don’t pick up bricks and throw them at the police,” he said.
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