A group of violent protesters, believed to be supporters of the far-right English Defence League, threw bricks at a local mosque and clashed with police officers near the site of a horrific stabbing that claimed the lives of three young girls.
Hundreds of protesters threw bottles and garbage cans and set police vehicles and residents’ cars ablaze, Merseyside police said, leaving behind a scene of chaos where, earlier that day, mourners had laid flowers and stuffed animals in tribute to the victims of the tragic Southport stabbing attack.
Merseyside Police said that 49 of its officers were injured in the disturbance, with eight sustaining serious injuries including fractures, lacerations and a suspected concussion. Four other officers with Lancashire Police were also injured.
“It is sickening to see this happening within a community that has been devastated by the tragic loss of three young lives,” Assistant Chief Const. Alex Goss said.
The names of the three girls who died in Monday’s stabbing attack were released by police Tuesday evening. They are six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar.
Eight other children and two adults were injured in the attack, seven of whom remain in critical condition.
The victims had been participating in a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga class at a studio in Southport when an armed suspect entered and started stabbing people. A 17-year-old boy was apprehended by police shortly after the attack and is being questioned.
The 17-year-old suspect was born in Cardiff, Wales, but that hasn’t stopped conspiracy theories from circulating online that he is a migrant or asylum seeker.
“There has been much speculation and hypothesis around the status of a 17-year-old male who is currently in police custody and some individuals are using this to bring violence and disorder to our streets,” Goss said. “We have already said that the person arrested was born in the U.K. and speculation helps nobody at this time.”
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The protests
Merseyside Police said the protest began around 7:45 p.m. local time, when a “large group of people – believed to be supporters of the English Defence League – began to throw items towards a local mosque on St Luke’s Road in Southport.”
The English Defence League is a far-right, single-issue group opposed to Islam. The group mostly operates on social media, but is known for the numerous street demonstrations it organized in the early 2010s protesting what it saw as Islamic extremism and rising Islamic influence in the U.K.
There has been no indication from authorities that the 17-year-old suspect has any religious affiliation, but online misinformation has spread that he is Muslim.
Officers outside the Southport Mosque in riot gear were pelted with bricks torn from garden walls in the residential neighbourhood by members of the crowd, some of whom wore masks, amid chants of “No surrender!” and “English till I die!” Firecrackers exploded, sirens wailed and a helicopter hovering overhead added to the chaos.
Police said hundreds of people were involved in the violent protest, which culminated in numerous vehicles being set ablaze “at random.” The protesters also damaged cars parked in the mosque’s parking lot and smashed up a local convenience store.
Three police dogs were injured in the protest after having bricks thrown at them.
“This is no way to treat a community, least of all a community that is still reeling from the events of Monday,” Goss said.
Police are appealing to the public for information and footage of Tuesday night’s protest, which raged throughout the evening before eventually dispersing around midnight.
After the chaos, residents came out to help clean up the street and the local Sefton Council is helping to repair the damage.
“The wanton violence and destruction we saw is the very last thing the people of Southport need having been rocked by the awful events of Monday. The disrespect toward grieving families and the community is despicable, and I want to reassure residents in Southport that we will have a significantly increased police presence in the town in the coming days,” Assistant Chief Const. Jenny Sims said.
“I want to make this absolutely clear: anyone who intends to cause future damage and harm to our communities will be dealt with robustly, using all our available powers.”
Four men have been arrested so far for violent disorder and other charges.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the “thuggery” and said the crowd had hijacked what had earlier been a peaceful vigil attended by hundreds in the centre of Southport to mourn the dead and 10 surviving stabbing victims.
Victims named
A short distance from Tuesday’s protest is the dance studio where three girls were fatally stabbed on Monday.
“What should have been a joyful start to the summer turned into an unspeakable tragedy,” Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said. “It’s difficult to comprehend or put into words the horror of what happened.”
Bebe King, 6, was among the girls who died. Her family released a statement through police saying: “No words can describe the devastation that has hit our family as try to deal with the loss of our little girl Bebe.”
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, died from her injuries in the hospital a day after the attack. Her family writes: “Keep smiling and dancing like you love to do our Princess, like we said before to you, you’re always our princess and no one would change that. Love from Your Hero Daddy and Mummy.”
Swift wrote in an Instagram story Tuesday that she was “completely in shock” at the “horror of yesterday’s attack.”
“These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families,” she wrote.
— With files from The Associated Press
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