Police face serious disruption in British cities over child murders

Liverpool:

Renewed street violence in British cities on Saturday left several police officers injured as they faced a fourth day of unrest following the murder of three girls in northwest England earlier in the week.

Riots involving hundreds of anti-immigration protesters have broken out in several towns and cities in recent days after false information spread quickly on social media that the suspect in Monday’s knife attack at a children’s dance class in Southport was a radical Muslim migrant.

Police said the suspect, Axel Rudakubana, 17, was born in Cardiff, Wales, but protests by anti-immigration and anti-Muslim protesters have continued, culminating in violence and riots, most recently in the northeastern city of Sunderland. , on Friday night.

Liverpool police said on Saturday that several officers were injured while dealing with a “serious disorder” in the city center.

Authorities in the eastern city of Hull said four people were arrested and three police officers were injured while dealing with protests where bottles were thrown.

Mosques across the country have been advised to beef up security, while police have deployed additional officers.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer, facing his first major test since being elected a month ago, condemned the “far right” for the violence and backed the police to take strong action. He discussed the disorder with senior ministers on Saturday, his office said.

The last time widespread violence broke out in Britain was in 2011, when thousands of people took to the streets for five nights after police shot dead a black man in London.

Reuters witnesses in Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester and Belfast reported a tense atmosphere on Saturday afternoon as police tried to stop hundreds of rival protesters shouting slogans.

Fights and violence broke out in some cities, including Liverpool, where eggs, beer cans and smoke grenades were thrown, while in Belfast some businesses reported property damage.

“I have no reason why they attacked us,” said Rahmi Akyol, outside his Belfast cafe, whose glass doors were smashed after he was attacked by dozens of people who threw bottles and chairs.

“I’ve lived here for 35 years. My children, my wife are from here. I don’t know what to say, it’s terrible,” he said.

At protests in London, police arrested several people, including one for giving a Nazi salute to a counter-protester.

On Friday night, hundreds of anti-immigration protesters in Sunderland threw rocks at police in riot gear near a mosque, before overturning vehicles, setting a car on fire and starting a fire near a police station.

Four injured police officers were taken to hospital and 12 people were arrested, Mark Hall, chief superintendent of Sunderland area police, told reporters on Saturday.

“This was not a protest. It was unforgivable violence and disorder,” Hall said.

At least 30 demonstrations were being planned across the UK this weekend, the BBC said, along with a series of counter-protests by anti-racism groups.

(Except the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a press release)