What happened in Stockport on 29th July 2024?
On 29th July 2024, in Southport in the North of England, three young schoolchildren (Bebe King, (6), Elsie Dot Stancombe (7) and Alice da Silva Aguiar (9)) were killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift themed dance and yoga event. Eight more children and two adults were also injured.
Later that day, police said they had arrested a 17-year-old man from a village nearby and that they were not treating the incident as terror-related.
Almost immediately after the attack, social media posts falsely speculated that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK on a boat in 2023, with an incorrect name being widely circulated. There were also unfounded rumours he was a Muslim. In fact, Axel Rudakubana, the suspect, was born in Wales to Rwandan parents.
On the evening of the 30th July, more than a thousand people attended a peaceful vigil for the victims in Southport.
When and where did the violence and riots start?
Later that evening, violence broke out near a local Southport mosque. People threw bricks, bottles and other missiles at the mosque and police and a police van was set alight.
The day after the Southport riots, protests broke out across England from Plymouth in the South to Sunderland in the north including London and in Belfast. More took place through the week with many targeting mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers, where people were forced to hide in their hotel rooms as rioters tried to set light to the building. Cars and buildings were attacked and buildings, including a library, set on fire. Shopkeepers who had built new lives away from the civil war in their own countries, watched helplessly, as rioters attacked their businesses.
Who was behind the riots?
To answer this, we need to look to extremists, who exploited the tragedy to promote their own hatred and agendas. The far right today is very different from its original roots in organisations such as the British National Party and the National Front. Today members of the far right find each other in looser networks of people, international and online-networked, where anyone can follow extremist channels of influencers. The ‘leaders’ and influencers of the far right use their power to put out statements designed to trigger others to commit violence and have been doing so for many years. The disinformation they spread is usually targeted at Muslim migrant people.
Their messages have become even more widespread since 2020 as the now former Conservative Government ramped up messages to ‘stop the boats’ and threatened many migrants with deportation to Rwanda. Added to this, growing anti-immigrant rhetoric, violence and intimidation against those forced to live in hostels and hotels and their families has increased.
It was against this hostile background that disinformation about the Southport Riots spread rapidly online. Online lies and misinformation inflamed the situation and some key instigators used social media and messaging apps to spread hatred and call for protests at fixed times and places. In fact these were not the first outbreaks of violence against migrants this summer: in Worcester, there was an attempted murder of an asylum seeker at a hotel. This time round, violent mobs in different parts of the country gathered at designated places and times inspired by the online messaging.
While some who took part in the riots did have links to the extreme or far right, most of those who took part in the disorder had no known links. People ranging from children to those in their late 60s took part, often with different motives including fighting and looting and stealing, as well as those who were drunk and joined after the riots had started. These riots show how widespread the right wing influence over this debate has become – the truth is that no one organisation owned or organised the riots: they were bigger than that.
How did the general public respond to the riots?
On 5th August, around 30 people turned up to a far-right rally at the Abdullah Quilliam Society mosque in Liverpool. Hundreds more turned up to support the mosque and the Imman, Adam Kelwick, decided not to stay inside the mosque. In the Imman’s words, “We approached the protestors offering food. Some ignored us at first, some politely said no, but eventually some accepted. From there we began to exchange smiles, had discussions and those who had initially rejected us saw the warm atmosphere that was being created and realised there was an opportunity for something more constructive than anger and hate.” The Imman further stated,” When things have calmed down a bit, we’re going to arrange a forum and we want genuine people like you (sic) to come in, and we’ll listen to each other, talk about the issues. But you’ve got to be ready to step up and talk.” The man whom the Imman was speaking to agreed and the conversation ended in a hug.”
On 7 August, thousands of anti-racism protesters gathered across different cities in England and formed human shields to protect asylum centres after police warned of unrest from more than 100 far right-led rallies. Holding placards saying, “refugees welcome” and “reject racism, try therapy”, people took to the streets in towns and cities nine days after the country was shaken by the fatal stabbing of three girls in Merseyside and the rioting that followed. There was little sign of the unrest seen over the past week. By 9pm that evening, the riots were over and in some large part by ordinary people standing up for their neighbours. A police source said, “The law abiding public have no time for the mindless criminality we have seen, and last night (7th August) proves that…. We must thank our communities for standing united against wanton thuggery.”
How did the Police and Justice System deal with the riots?
The response to the rioters by police and courts was swift. By the end of August 1300 people had already been arrested for their involvement with 800 charged. 570 had been brought before the courts by 2 September.
Due to the online organisation of places and times of riots, police forces needed to dispatch officers rapidly at short notice. While some rioters were arrested during the riots, the majority were arrested afterwards. They were identified using a range of tactics to gather evidence including body worn video cameras, social media footage, CCTV and video doorbells, footage from drones and helicopters. Facial recognition software was then used to identify suspects.
The Government prioritised dealing with the rioters, employing extra prosecutors. Many people were charged with violent disorder with a maximum of 5 years imprisonment although some were charged with the offence of ‘riot’ that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment. Others were charged with attempted arson, burglary or racially aggravated criminal damage. Those involved in promoting and processing material to incite racial hatred were charged for their online activity.
What next?
The August 2024 riots once again shone the spotlight on the growing threat to migrants in the UK and revealed the widespread use of social media by the far right to spread lies and encourage and incite anti-migrant hatred and attack. As Simone stated ‘no one organisation owned or organised the riots: they were bigger than that.’ Despite the rapid police and judicial response, the success in mobilising so many rioters to take to the street is only likely to fuel and encourage the far right to continue their spread of misinformation about migrants living in the UK. We must all challenge what we read and look for the truth about incidents and individuals and not be pawns in someone else’s lies.
Although the Police did not initially link these attacks to terrorism, at the end of October, following a complex investigation, Merseyside Police announced that in addition to the charges of murder, attempted murder and possession of a knife, they were now charging the defendant with production of a biological toxin and possessing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.
