Riots have broken out across the UK, which mainstream politicians and media have blamed on “misinformation.” The suspected killer of three young children at a dance hall in Southport was wrongly named on Twitter, with posts suggesting he was a Muslim. The courts subsequently took the unusual move of naming a suspect under 18 and stated that 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana had been arrested and charged with the crime.
Three young children, aged six, seven, and nine, were stabbed to death when Rudakubana entered a venue in the northwest English town of Southport armed with a knife and began stabbing people indiscriminately. Eleven others were injured. While the original name suggested on Twitter was false, British people are nevertheless taking to the streets with chants of “We want our country back.” The alleged killer was born in Cardiff, Wales, to immigrant parents from Rwanda.
The disorder continued to spread over the weekend of August 3, with many commentators suggesting Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had inflamed the situation with a speech in which he called the protestors “far-right thugs.” Hundreds of people who attended the protests began posting photos on Twitter, labeling themselves “far-right thugs” and inviting people to follow each other and organize further demonstrations.
In the northeast England town of Sunderland, two police stations were set alight, and in the midlands city of Stoke on Trent, Muslim marchers clashed with demonstrators when the “Muslim Defense League” organized its own events. Chants of “Allahu Akbar” were heard as police struggled to keep various factions apart.
In extraordinary scenes in Northern Ireland, British Loyalists and Irish Republicans marched together against mass immigration – the two sides stating they would put their differences aside to oppose the open border migration that has changed the face of Europe.
In France, activists posted images on public buildings across the country. The posters featured pictures of the three young girls murdered in Southport with a caption reading “European Lives Matter” and “Southport is everywhere.”
More than 30 protests erupted across Britain on the same day, some emerging spontaneously. Social media activity suggests they would continue for several more days.
