On 30 July a crowd, some of whom police believed to be supporters of the English Defence League, gathered outside Southport Mosque, having wrongly believed the mass stabbing to have been performed by a Muslim immigrant due to the spread of misinformation on social media platforms. They attacked police officers, threw objects at the mosque, and set a police vehicle on fire. The riot left over fifty officers injured, some seriously, and three police dogs wounded. Eight people were subsequently arrested. Unrest in other parts of England occurred in the following days.
On 29 July 2024, a knife attack took place at a children's yoga and dance workshop. Three children were killed, and eight other children were injured, with five of them in critical condition. Two adults at the event were also critically injured.[27]
False claims
Following the stabbing, there was incorrect speculation about the identity and religion of the suspected attacker online.[28] Misinformation, including false claims about the suspect's nationality, religion and immigration status, were circulated on social media by high-profile far-right accounts.[29] The false claim that the perpetrator was named "Ali Al-Shakati" is believed to have originated from the X account of an anti-lockdown campaigner and gained a greater audience when repeated by the website Channel 3 Now. Andrew Tate also posted on X that the attacker was an "illegal immigrant", and ex-boxer Anthony Fowler shared that it was a “fellow from Syria”.[30][31] A newly created "Southport-themed" Telegram group became inundated with misinformation, including from the far-right National Front, prior to dissemination on social media platforms,[25] as well as disinformation spread on social media by the neo-Nazi group British Movement.[32]
Merseyside Police attempted to quell speculation by confirming that the name being circulated was not connected to the case and was not the suspect,[33] and it was later reported that the suspect was born in Wales to Rwandan parents and moved to the Southport area in 2013.[34][35] The spread of misinformation has widely been attributed to the cause of the riots.[36][37][38][39]
Professor of political communication, Andrew Chadwick, described a viral tweet as being "deliberately fabricated to generate hostility toward ethnic minorities and immigrants, and it's a potentially Islamophobic piece of propaganda".[40]Matthew Feldman, an expert on right-wing extremism, commented "It is difficult to think of a much better example of online harms breaching the real world than a fake story demonising Muslims and people of colour and leading to riots on the streets".[41] Former security minister, Stephen McPartland, accused Russia and Vladimir Putin's regime of involvement in the campaign of misinformation, describing it as "part of the Russian playbook".[42]Guardian columnist Owen Jones blamed X (formerly Twitter) as a "cesspit of disinformation and far-right talking points" for the spread of unverified claims.[43]
Riots
30 July
At approximately 20:05 BST, hundreds of protesters gathered outside Southport Mosque chanting, "No surrender!" and "English till I die!"[44] Within several minutes, protesters had clashed with police.[45] Protesters barricaded themselves and shouted "Tommy Robinson," a far-right activist who founded the English Defence League (EDL). Robinson had been arrested and then released two days prior.[46] By 20:37, protesters began throwing objects at the mosque and police, leaving one officer injured.[47] A police van was set alight[48] as police deployed smoke canisters.[49] Merseyside Police requested officers from Greater Manchester Police, Cheshire Constabulary, Lancashire Police, and North Wales Police.[50] Riot police cleared the area near the mosque by 21:14[51] and protesters had begun dispersing shortly after that as night fell.[52] By 23:14, the riot had ended.[48] A local convenience store had been damaged.[53]
During the riot, The Guardian reported that far-right activists had been promoting the protest that had started in Southport,[44] prior to involvement in the riot.[17]Huff Post described far-right activists as having "hijacked" the vigil for the victims,[54] and Manchester Evening News reported "far right thugs, fuelled by lies, sought to exploit the tragedy".[55] Merseyside Police said on the night of the riot that they believed supporters of the English Defence League were involved in and organised the disturbances.[1][56][57]Hope Not Hate described them as supporters of Tommy Robinson.[58] Robinson denied the EDL were involved, while arguing that the anger in Southport was justified.[40] A prominent member of the neo-Nazi group Patriotic Alternative took part in the riot and another member helped to promote the event.[2][26]
The following day, the anti-fascist group Hope Not Hate warned of the possibility of further demonstrations by far-right groups in several cities across the country.[42] Concerns of further violence were echoed by Merseyside Police.[59]
On the evening of 31 July, a group of approximately 40 demonstrators[62] gathered outside a Holiday Inn in Manchester which was purportedly housing asylum seekers. Chants were heard of the group exclaiming "we want our country back", a phrase associated with far-right groups in the UK.[63] Two people were arrested.[5]
Demonstrations also broke out in the County Durham town of Hartlepool on the same evening. Objects including eggs and glass bottles were thrown at the police in response to the latter's riot shields.[64][65] Several police officers were injured and a police car was set alight. Eight people were arrested.[5]
There was also a protest outside a hotel housing migrants in Aldershot. Police and crime commissioner, Donna Jones, described "mob-type" behaviour, and Hampshire Constabulary reported a crowd of 200 people, with a minority throwing objects and subjecting people to racial abuse.[66]
2 August
On the evening of 2 August, protestors gathered in Sunderland's Keel Square for a march around the city centre. Mounted police attended the demonstration along with officers in riot gear. Police and protestors clashed outside a mosque in St Mark's Road after some of the marchers attempted to approach the building. The protestors chanted "save our kids" and "we want our country back", as well as slogans in support of Tommy Robinson, and Islamophobic slurs.[67][68] An Uber taxi was burnt and shops looted. Sunderland Central police station was set alight, and trains to Sunderland were cancelled or diverted to St Peter's.[69][70] Eight people were subsequently arrested and three police officers hospitalised.[4]
A hundred protestors shouting anti-immigrant slogans gathered in Liverpool on the same evening.[71][72]
Aftermath
The Merseyside Police Federation said that over fifty officers were injured at the Southport incident, with North West Ambulance Service reporting that twenty-seven were hospitalised and twelve were discharged at the scene.[73] Merseyside Police stated that eight officers were seriously injured and three police dogs were wounded.[74]
One man from Standish was arrested on suspicion of possessing a bladed article.[75] Police put in place a 24-hour Section 60 Order giving officers further stop-and-search authority, and a Section 34 Order, allowing police to direct people who are engaging in certain activities away from the area. Merseyside Police deployed additional officers after the riot, and ambulance resources remained.[73]
According to The Independent, the Home Secretary is "reviewing whether the far-right English Defence League [...] should be made a proscribed terrorist organisation", after its connection to the riots,[42] a suggestion echoed by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner.[76] The Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was criticised for suggesting that the truth was being withheld, and subsequently accused of inciting violence and creating conspiracy theories by a former counter-terrorism police officer,[77] as well as condemned by the husband of the murdered MP Jo Cox, who accused Farage of "inciting a riot".[78] Farage was also accused of giving legitimacy to acts of violence by Steve Rotheram, the Mayor of Liverpool City Region, after releasing a video in which he said the protests were "nothing to what could happen over the course of the next few weeks".[79]
Responses
Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote that those who had "hijacked the vigil for the victims" had "insulted the community as it grieves" and that rioters would feel the full force of the law.[80] On 1 August, and following a meeting with senior police officers, Starmer announced the establishment of a national violent disorder programme to facilitate greater cooperation between police forces when dealing with violent disorder.[81]
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned the riot as appalling and requested a criminal investigation.[82] The MP for Southport, Patrick Hurley, said on BBC Radio 4's Today on 31 July, that the rioters were not local residents, but were "thugs who'd got the train in" and were "utterly disrespecting the families of the dead and injured children, and [...] the town".[83] The rioters had broken windows of Southport Mosque; Hurley told Today that people "were using the horrific incident on Monday, the deaths of three little kiddies, for their own political purposes".[84]
The Liverpool Region Mosque Network and the Muslim Association of Britain released statements condemning the riot.[85] Ahead of anticipated protests the following weekend, the Muslim Council of Britain recommended that mosques "review and strengthen their security protocols".[86][87]
On 2 August, and with a number of further protests expected to occur over subsequent days, Home Office minister David Hanson said that police were monitoring organisations, and would use face recognition technology to identify anyone involved in violence.[88] Jenny Sims, the Assistant Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, said the force was fully prepared for anyone intent on causing disorder.[89]
Elsewhere
Church leaders in Northern Ireland condemned calls for anti-Islamic protests in the province on the weekend following the stabbing.[90] The Police Service of Northern Ireland have said that they are planning a proportionate response.[91]
^Greenwood, Xavier (2 August 2024). "Southport stabbings: how online disinformation ignited unrest across the UK". Tortoise. Retrieved 2 August 2024. The first known use of this name was by Bernie Spofforth, an X-user who has previously spread Covid and climate disinformation, and appeared on GB News as an anti-lockdown campaigner. The Southport murders triggered a range of disinformation from major accounts on X. The YouTuber Andrew Tate falsely claimed the attacker was an "illegal migrant", the former boxer Anthony Fowler posted a video saying it was a "fellow from Syria", while a third account called Europe Invasion said the suspect was a "Muslim immigrant". These three posts alone have had 26 million views and impressions. None have been removed.
^"Suspect was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents". BBC News. 30 July 2024. Retrieved 30 July 2024. [T]he 17-year-old [...] was born in Cardiff and moved to the Southport area in 2013. His parents are from Rwanda [...]