On Saturday, anti-immigrant protests turned violent in many cities across the United Kingdom, resulting in dozens of arrests and incidents of looting. The demonstrations were staged by far-right groups following the murder of three children in Southport on July 29th, committed by a knife-wielding attacker who was arrested immediately after the incident.
In Lancashire, police reported that 20 people were taken into custody during the protests, while ten arrests were made in Staffordshire, six in Liverpool, and four in Kingston-upon-Hull. Additionally, two teenagers were arrested in Hartlepool, with several more detentions occurring in Bristol amidst ongoing riots late into the night.
Footage captured by Sky News revealed a convenience store being looted during protests in Manchester, while other businesses, including a mobile phone shop, suffered similar fates in Liverpool. In Belfast, a car and cafe were set on fire, and multiple stores were vandalized in Kingston-upon-Hull.
In Liverpool, protesters threw bottles and cobblestones at police officers, with some demonstrators also utilizing fire extinguishers as weapons. As a result of the violence, two law enforcement personnel were taken to the hospital with suspected broken jaws and noses. Another incident involved protesters knocking down and assaulting a motorcycle police officer, with photographs circulated by The Daily Mail showing hooligans in Bristol throwing beer barrels at police cars.
The recent wave of anti-immigrant protests in the UK can be traced back to an attack that occurred in Southport on July 29th. During a dance workshop, 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana assaulted children with a knife, leaving three young girls dead and eight others injured, with five of them being assessed as critical but stable. A yoga teacher and a center employee were also seriously hurt in the incident.
Rudakubana, who was arrested on the spot, is reportedly an ethnic Rwandan who was born in Cardiff, Wales, and resided in the village of Banks near Southport. His family had fled to the UK to escape genocide in their homeland. The government claims that one contributing factor to the riots was misinformation circulating after the tragedy, which suggested that the attacker was an asylum seeker.