What's behind the anti-immigrant violence that has exploded across Britain? Here's a look
CTV
Britain has been convulsed by violence for the past week as crowds spouting anti-immigrant and Islamophobic slogans clashed with police. The disturbances have been fueled by right-wing activists using social media to spread misinformation about a knife attack that killed three girls during a Taylor Swift-themed dance event.
Britain has been convulsed by violence for the past week as crowds spouting anti-immigrant and Islamophobic slogans clashed with police. The disturbances have been fueled by right-wing activists using social media to spread misinformation about a knife attack that killed three girls during a Taylor Swift-themed dance event.
The violence, some of Britain's worst in years, has led to hundreds of arrests as the government pledges that the rioters will feel “the full force of the law” after hurling bricks and other projectiles at police, looting shops and attacking hotels used to house asylum-seekers.
As Britain's new government struggles to quell the unrest and announces a “standing army” of specialist police to deal with rioting, here's a look at what’s happening and why.
People across Britain were shocked by what police described as a “ferocious knife attack” that killed three girls between six and nine on July 29 in Southport, a seaside town north of Liverpool. Eight other children and two adults were injured.
Police detained a 17-year-old suspect. Rumors, later debunked, quickly circulated on social media that the suspect was an asylum-seeker, or a Muslim immigrant.
The next day, as people gathered to comfort one another and lay flowers at the site, hundreds of protesters attacked a local mosque with bricks, bottles and rocks. Police said the rioters were “believed to be supporters of the English Defence League,” a far-right group that has organized anti-Muslim protests since 2009.
Authorities on Aug. 1 took the unusual step of identifying the underage suspect in an effort to stop the rumors about his identity, which were fueling the violence.
