Riots involving hundreds of anti-immigration protesters have erupted in several towns and cities over the past few days after false information spread rapidly online that a “radical Muslim” migrant was suspected of carrying out a knife attack on children at a dance in the city of Southport on Monday.
Police say the suspect, Axel Rudakopana, is 17 years old and was born in Cardiff, Wales.
Anti-immigration protests
But anti-immigration and anti-Muslim protests have continued and have turned violent and rioting, as videos circulating online have shown, with the city of Sunderland in northeastern England the scene of the latest protest on Friday evening.
Hundreds of anti-immigration protesters gathered in Sunderland on Friday evening and threw stones at riot police near a mosque in the city before overturning vehicles, setting one on fire and starting another fire next to a police office.
Liverpool police said on Saturday that a number of officers were injured as they tried to control a “serious disturbance” in the city centre.
Authorities in the eastern English city of Hull said they had arrested four protesters and three officers were injured while dealing with the protests.
Authorities have asked mosques across the country to step up security measures, while police have deployed more personnel.
“Right-wing” accusation
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has accused the “extreme right” of causing the violence and has backed police in taking tough action.
Starmer’s office said the prime minister discussed the unrest with a number of senior officials on Saturday.
The last time Britain saw widespread violence was in 2011, when thousands took to the streets for five nights after a black man was shot dead by police in London.
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