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LONDON: Police across the UK are bracing for more violence on Saturday after another night of far-right protests left four officers in hospital during a tense standoff outside a mosque in the northeastern English city of Sunderland.
During the violent unrest on Friday evening, protesters threw beer barrels, fire extinguishers and rocks at police officers, set a vehicle on fire and a police station was attacked. Police said many of those involved were not from the city and had traveled there to cause chaos.
The violence in Sunderland, which has seen 10 arrests, is the latest in a spate of violent incidents in recent days, following a knife attack at a dance class in the north-west seaside town of Southport on Monday, which left three girls dead and several others injured. A 17-year-old boy has been arrested.
False rumours circulating online about the young man's identity, suggesting he was a Muslim and an immigrant, have sparked anger among far-right supporters. Suspects under the age of 18 are typically not known in the UK, but Judge Andrew Menari ordered the identity of Axel Rudacubana, who was born in Wales to Rwandan parents, to be revealed, partly to stop the spread of false information.
During a press conference on Saturday after the situation had been cleared, Northumbria Police Chief Superintendent Mark Hall described the violent protests in Sunderland as “unforgivable” and said four officers were injured, three of them as a direct result of the disturbance. He also said the rider was seriously injured in the accident and was being treated in hospital.
“Our officers were confronted with serious and persistent violence during the evening,” he said. “Make no mistake, if you were involved last night, expect to face the full force of the law.”
More than 20 protests are expected this weekend, including in Belfast, Cardiff, Liverpool and Manchester. Police say most of the protests are being organised online by hidden far-right groups, who rally support with phrases like “enough is enough”, “save our children” and “stop the boats”. Counter-protests are also expected, with Stand Up To Racism rallying against Islamophobia and the far-right.
Police deployed more officers over the weekend, added more cells and installed surveillance and facial recognition technology.
Britain's new Home Secretary Yvette Cooper from the Labour Party said on social media platform X on Saturday that criminals who attacked police and caused chaos would “pay a price” for their hooliganism and that the police had the full support of the government to take “the strongest possible action”.
Far-right protesters have staged several protests since the stabbings, clashing with police on Tuesday outside a mosque in Southport, close to the scene of the brutal stabbing, and the following day throwing beer cans, bottles and flares near the Prime Minister's offices in London. Southport residents have been left angered by the organised violence, which they have described as shocking and saddening.
The attack on children at Taylor Swift's summer dance class on Monday shocked a nation where knife crime has been a long-standing and concerning issue, although mass stabbings are rare.
Rudacubana is charged with murder over the deaths of 9-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 7-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, and 6-year-old Bebe King. He is also charged with 10 counts of attempted murder of eight children and two adults who were injured.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer blamed the violence on “far-right hatred” and pledged to end the riots. He said police across the UK would be given more resources to stop “the failure of law and order on the streets”.
At a press conference Thursday, the prime minister said the street violence was “clearly motivated by far-right hatred,” announcing a program to help police better share intelligence between agencies and make swift arrests.
“This was a coordinated and deliberate act,” Starmer said. “This was not a runaway protest, but a group of people committed to violence.”