Thousands of UK riot police on Wednesday stood ready to deal with more potential outbreaks of violence, which erupted more than a week ago after three children were murdered.
Far-right groups have planned demonstrations in more than 30 locations, with immigration lawyers and buildings hosting asylum seekers set to be the primary targets, according to posts on messaging app Telegram leaked to the British media.
The government has said 6,000 specialist police are being readied to deal with England’s worst disorder in over a decade, which has seen hundreds arrested and more than 100 charged.
The violence broke out after three girls, aged nine, seven, and six, were killed and five more children critically injured during a knife attack at a Taylor Swift dance class in Southport, north-west England.
False rumors initially spread on social media, saying the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker. The suspect was later identified as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, born in Wales. The UK media reported that his parents are from Rwanda.
Despite the police statement, initial disturbances in Southport centered around a local mosque, and widespread violence has rocked England and Northern Ireland since.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer late Tuesday warned that anyone involved would face “the full force of the law,” including those inciting violence online.
The unrest, Britain’s worst since the 2011 London riots, has led a number of countries to warn their citizens about the dangers of traveling in the United Kingdom.
Musk Row
A 19-year-old man became the first person to receive a prison sentence related to the unrest when he received a two-month term on Tuesday, PA Media reported.
Another man was convicted after he admitted assaulting a police officer outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham, northern England, on Sunday.
The government, only one month old, has vowed to take a tough line on the unrest.
Justice Minister Heidi Alexander told BBC Radio 4 that the government had freed up an extra 500 prison places.
Police have blamed the disorder on people associated with the now-defunct English Defence League, a far-right Islamophobic organization founded 15 years ago, whose supporters have been linked to football hooliganism.
Interior Minister Yvette Cooper said that “there will be a reckoning” for perpetrators, adding that social media put a “rocket booster” under the violence.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk escalated a dispute with the UK government on Tuesday by likening Britain to “the Soviet Union.” A spokesperson for Starmer had said there was “no justification” for Musk’s earlier comment that a British “civil war is inevitable.”
James Pheby, with AFP
