Far-right protesters fueled by anger and false online rumours hurled bottles and stones at police, wounding more than 20 officers on Tuesday evening outside a northwest England mosque near where three girls were fatally stabbed a day earlier.
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, seven of whom remain in critical condition.
Police said the violent crowd that torched a police van and several cars was believed to be supporters of the English Defence League, a far-right group – and the mayhem was inspired by rumours about the identity of the teenage suspect arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
“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,” Merseyside Police Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss said.
Police previously said a suspect’s name circulating on social media was incorrect and the male was born in Britain, contrary to online claims he was an asylum seeker.
The Liverpool Region Mosque Network posted a statement decrying the “heinous” stabbing as an attack against society that was unconnected to Islam.
“A minority of people are attempting to portray that this inhumane act is somehow related to the Muslim community,” the group said on X – previously Twitter, “Frankly it is not, and we must not let those who seek to divide us and spread hatred use this as an opportunity.”
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.
Twenty-two officers were hurt, with eight suffering from more serious injuries that included fractures, lacerations and a concussion.
Two police dogs were wounded by bricks and a third suffered burns.
A day earlier, a short distance from the turmoil, the girls had taken part in a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga workshop on the first week of summer vacation when a teen armed with a knife entered the studio and began a vicious attack, police said.
“It’s difficult to comprehend or put into words the horror of what happened,” Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said while briefing members of Parliament, “What should have been a joyful start to the summer turned into an unspeakable tragedy.”
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6, died from their injuries, police said.
Eight children and two adults remained hospitalised after the attack in Southport. Both adults and five of the children were in critical condition.
An emotional crowd that gathered in Southport outside The Atkinson Theatre and Museum in the early evening held a minute of silence for the victims.
Swift said on Instagram that she was “completely in shock” and still taking in “the horror” of the event.
“These were just little kids at a dance class,” she wrote. “I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.”
The 17-year-old suspect was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder shortly after the attacks just before noon. Police said he was born in Cardiff, Wales and had lived for years in a village about 5 kilometres from Southport. He has not yet been charged.
The rampage is the latest shocking attack in a country where a recent rise in knife crime has stoked anxieties and led to calls for the government to do more to clamp down on bladed weapons, which are by far the most commonly used instruments in UK homicides.
The prime minister was jeered by some as he visited the crime scene and laid a wreath of pink and white flowers with a handwritten note that said: “Our hearts are broken, there are no words for such profound loss. The nation’s thoughts are with you.”
“How many more children?” one person yelled as Starmer was getting in his car. “Our kids are dead and you’re leaving already?”
Starmer told reporters earlier that he is determined to get a grip on high levels of knife crime but said it was not a day for politics.
