Police stations, shops and cars have been set on fire during anti-immigrant clashes in several cities around the UK. Several police officers are injured. According to the BBC, at least 147 people were arrested on Sunday evening, a figure which is expected to rise.
– People in this country have the right to be safe, and yet we have seen Muslim communities and mosques being attacked, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday.
In the coming days, a number of new protests are planned, and online people are encouraged to bring English flags, and the slogan “enough is enough” is repeated.
Violent riots
The police blame the violence on supporters of the anti-immigration far-right organization English Defense League, which was founded 15 years ago and is often involved in football riots.
The unrest is the worst to hit Britain since the summer of 2011, when widespread riots broke out after police killed a man in north London, according to the AFP news agency.
The government says the police have “all the resources they need” to deal with the crisis. Large forces have been deployed to try to stop the violence from spreading further.
At the same time, the police in Great Britain have announced that the extensive efforts in connection with the protests have meant that there will be fewer resources to follow up other crimes.
– You will regret it
British authorities have promised tougher measures to put an end to the protests. On Sunday, Prime Minister Starmer warned that those behind the riots will be prosecuted as strictly as the law allows.
– I guarantee that you will regret having participated, Starmer said on Sunday, according to Sky News and several other British media.
The statement came as police battled to stop protesters trying to break into a hotel where asylum seekers were staying in the northern English town of Rotherham. The protesters threw pieces of wood, chairs and fire extinguishers at the line of police officers standing outside the hotel.
Attempts were also made to start a fire.
– I say it as it is, this is mob activity from far-right groups, Starmer said of the incident.
Later there were reports of an attack on a hotel with asylum seekers also in Tamworth in Staffordshire.
Spread of misinformation
The unrest was triggered by the murders of three children who attended a children’s dance event on Monday morning last week. A six-year-old girl, a seven-year-old girl and a nine-year-old girl were killed, and several others were injured.
After the murders, there has been a flood of disinformation and rumor-mongering in social media. It is claimed, among other things, that the person behind the Southport attack was a radical Islamist migrant, which the police reject.
A 17-year-old boy has been arrested for the knife attack. The boy was born in the Welsh capital Cardiff to parents with a Rwandan background.
Sky News has documented that networks of anonymous Tiktok accounts and Telegram groups trying to whip up the mood. Prime Minister Keir Starmer went out last week and chastised and warned the large companies behind the social media that they have a responsibility.
– Social media must comply with legislation intended to prevent the spread of inflammatory disinformation, he said.
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2024-08-06 16:23:11
