(cont’d)
“…
Some of the protests did not turn violent. In the southwest city of Bristol, groups shouted “we want our country back,” while others chanted “England ‘til I die.” There were also clashes with counterprotesters singing “racist scum, off our streets.”
The latest demonstrations follow
a week of riots in the country after three young girls were
killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party in the town of Southport. At the center of the demonstrations was a conspiracy theory, spread on social media, based on a lie that the perpetrator was Muslim, an asylum-seeker or both.
Less than three hours after the attack on the girls, AI-generated images were shared on X by an account called Europe invasion, depicting a man in traditional Muslim dress waving a knife outside the U.K.’s houses of Parliament. The post has since been viewed over 900,000 times.
… And so the nation was only briefly united in mourning for the girls before their hometown of Southport was beset by violence as a group of mostly white men threw bottles and bricks at police officers and a mosque.
…
Reporting restrictions that had prevented the naming of the suspect, who is under the age of 18, were eventually lifted in order to stop the spread of misinformation after a false name circulated online.
As it happens, the suspect Axel Rudakubana, 17, was born in the Welsh capital of Cardiff and had lived for years in a village near Southport itself, police said. The motive behind the stabbings remains unknown.
… Founder of the far-right
English Defence League Tommy Robinson — who last week fled Britain, where he was due to be in court over alleged contempt proceedings — was among the first to call for nationwide protests, urging his 800,000 X followers to “hit the streets.” Other online personalities such as
internet influencer Andrew Tate, who remains in
Romania as he prepares to stand trial on sex trafficking charges, said in a video on X that the attacker was an “illegal immigrant.” …”
nypost.com
