London:
A wave of riots, triggered by a deadly attack at a children’s dance event and further fueled by a torrent of misinformation, has gripped parts of the United Kingdom. What began as a community’s grief over the tragic loss of three young men turned into national chaos, with far-right groups seizing the moment to incite anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim violence.
What triggered the protests
On July 29, three girls, aged six to nine, were killed during a Taylor Swift-themed dance event in Southport, northern England. Eight other children and two adults also suffered stab wounds and were transferred to the hospital. The attacker, 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, was arrested and charged with three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a blade.
Axel Rudakubana was born and raised in Cardiff, Wales. However, false information that he was an Islamic migrant spread quickly on social media. This misinformation incited violent anti-Muslim protests in Southport the following day, including an attempted attack on the local mosque.
Spread of riots
On Wednesday night, a sea of angry protesters stormed Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Downing Street office, expressing their outrage over immigration and demanding government action. Crowd chants of “Save our children” and “We want our country back” filled the air as protesters clashed with police, throwing rockets and smoke bombs at the prime minister’s residence.
The Metropolitan Police reported 111 arrests and five injured officers following a night of violent disorder. This follows Tuesday’s initial protests in Southport, where more than 50 police officers were injured and police vans were set on fire.
Since then, riots have broken out in more than 20 locations, including Sunderland, Manchester, Plymouth and Belfast, across Britain. These protests involved hundreds of participants who targeted migrants or Muslims, vandalized stores and clashed with police.
Who is behind the riots?
Keir Starmer attributes the recent violence to “far-right violence”. Prominent anti-Muslim and anti-immigration activists, such as Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, are accused of spreading false information to inflame tensions. Social media platforms have been criticized for failing to prevent the spread of misinformation, which has played a significant role in amplifying these false narratives.
According to police, most of those involved in the clashes were far-right agitators from outside the local areas. However, some individuals with local grievances or thrill-seeking youths also joined the fight, police said. Meanwhile, counter-protesters and anti-fascist groups gathered to oppose them.
The motivation behind the riots
Many protesters, calling themselves “patriots”, claimed that high levels of immigration were undermining British society. They argued that immigration fueled violence and crime and that politicians favored migrants. However, human rights groups and anti-racist organizations dismissed these allegations as unfounded, suggesting that the real motive was extremism masquerading as patriotism.
Government response
The Starmer-led government took swift action in response to the recent unrest, making around 600 additional prison places available and deploying specialist officers to prevent the situation from escalating. A 58-year-old British man was also jailed for three years for violent disorder.
The government is also targeting those who use social media to spread trouble, with one man accused of using threatening language to incite racial hatred on Facebook. Science Minister Peter Kyle met with representatives from major technology companies such as TikTok, Meta, Google and X to prevent incitement and the spread of false information online.
This story originally appeared on Ndtv.com read the full story
