Far-right protesters target Southport mosque, clash with UK police
Al Jazeera
Merseyside Police urge end to speculation over 17-year-old suspect arrested over Monday’s fatal attack on children’s dance class.
A large crowd of far-right, anti-Muslim protesters has clashed with police in Southport in the northwest of England, hours after the town held a vigil for those killed and injured in a knife attack on a Taylor Swift-themed children’s dance and yoga class.
Merseyside Police said that 22 officers were injured in Tuesday night’s violence, eight of them seriously. The unrest began when several hundred people, most of them men, began targeting a Southport mosque, setting vehicles and wheelie bins on fire and attacking a local shop.
Bottles and bricks were thrown at police who linked the rioters to the English Defence League, a group that has sometimes staged violent demonstrations against Islam.
Off-duty officers and reinforcements from other forces were brought in to restore calm.
“Tonight, Merseyside Police has faced serious violence in Southport,” Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss said in the statement, adding that officers had “displayed … courage whilst under constant and sustained attack”.
