Merseyside Police are calling for an end to speculation about the 17-year-old suspect arrested for Monday’s fatal attack on a children’s dance class.
A large crowd of far-right anti-Muslim protesters clashed with police in Southport, northwest England, hours after the city held a vigil for those killed and injured in a knife attack at a dance and yoga club Children’s room with a Taylor Swift theme. classroom.
Merseyside Police said 22 officers were injured in Tuesday night’s violence, eight of them seriously. The unrest began when several hundred people, mostly men, began attacking a Southport mosque, setting vehicles and rubbish bins on fire and attacking a local shop.
Bottles and bricks were thrown at police who linked protesters to the English Defense League, a group that has sometimes organized violent demonstrations against Islam.
Off-duty officers and reinforcements from other forces were brought in to restore calm.
“Tonight, Merseyside Police faced serious violence in Southport,” Deputy Chief Constable Alex Goss said in the statement, adding that officers “showed… courage whilst under constant and sustained attack”.
Violence broke out shortly after hundreds of people gathered in the city center to pay tribute to those killed in the attack, laying flowers and toys. Three girls were killed in the attack, while eight children were injured, five of them in critical condition in hospital. Two adults who tried to protect them also remain in critical condition.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised that “the full force of the law” would be used against protesters.
“The people of Southport are suffering from the horror that was inflicted on them yesterday,” he wrote on social media platform X. “They deserve our support and our respect. Those who hijacked the vigil for the victims with violence and violence have insulted the community as it grieves.”
Police arrested a teenager for murder and attempted murder over the stabbings, saying the suspect was born in the Welsh city of Cardiff and lived in a village near Southport.
“There has been a lot of speculation and hypothesis surrounding the status of a 17-year-old who is currently in police custody and some individuals are using this to bring violence and disorder to our streets,” Goss said.
“We have already said that the person detained was born in the UK and speculation does not help anyone at this time.”
Goss and local politicians said many of those involved in Tuesday’s violence came from outside the area, while the Liverpool Region Network of Mosques said a minority of people were trying to use the incident to spread hate.
“Tonight we saw distressing scenes outside Southport Mosque, with angry protesters gathered outside,” the statement said. “This is causing more fear and anxiety in our communities.”
The three girls who died in the attack were identified as Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, whose parents are Portuguese.
“Keep smiling and dancing like you love to do our princess, as we already told you, you will always be our princess and no one would change that,” Aguiar’s family said in a statement.
Writing on Instagram, singer Taylor Swift said she was “completely in shock” at “the loss of life and innocence, and the horrific trauma inflicted on everyone.”
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
