Merseyside Police are urging an end to speculation over the 17-year-old suspect arrested over Monday's fatal attack at a children's dance class.
A large crowd of far-right and anti-Muslim protesters clashed with police in Southport, northwest England, hours after the town held a vigil in memory of those killed and injured in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed children's dance and yoga class.
Merseyside Police said 22 officers were injured in Tuesday night's violence, eight of them seriously. The riots began when several hundred people, mostly men, began attacking a mosque in Southport, setting fire to vehicles and rubbish bins and attacking a local shop.
Police threw bottles and bricks at the rioters, who linked the rioters to the English Defence League, a group that has sometimes organised violent anti-Islam demonstrations.
Off-duty officers and reinforcements from other forces were brought in to restore calm.
“Tonight, Merseyside Police has been confronted with serious violence in Southport,” Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss said in the statement, adding that officers had “showed… courage whilst under constant and sustained attack.”
The violence erupted shortly after hundreds of people gathered in the city centre to pay tribute to those killed in the attack, laying flowers and toys. Three girls were killed in the attack and eight children were injured, five of them in critical condition in hospital. Two adults who tried to protect them also remain in critical condition.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed that “the full force of the law” would be used against the rioters.
“The people of Southport are shocked by the horror inflicted on them yesterday,” he wrote on social media platform X. “They deserve our support and respect. Those who have hijacked the vigil for the victims with violence and brutality have insulted the grieving community.”
Police have arrested a teenager on charges of murder and attempted murder over the stabbings, saying the suspect was born in the Welsh city of Cardiff and lived in a village near Southport.
“There has been a lot of speculation and hypotheses surrounding the status of a 17-year-old boy who is currently in police custody and some people are using this to bring violence and disorder to our streets,” Goss said.
“We have already said that the person arrested was born in the United Kingdom and speculation does not help anyone at this time.”
Goss and local politicians said many of those involved in Tuesday's violence came from outside the area, while the Liverpool Region Mosque Network said a minority of people were trying to use the incident to spread hatred.
“This afternoon we have seen distressing scenes outside Southport Mosque, with angry protesters gathered outside,” the organisation said in a statement. “This is causing further fear and anxiety in our communities.”
The three girls who died in the attack were identified as six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar, whose parents are Portuguese.
“Keep smiling and dancing like you love to do, our princess, as we told you before, you will always be our princess and no one will change that,” Aguiar’s family said in a statement.
Writing on Instagram, singer Taylor Swift said she was “completely in shock” at “the loss of life and innocence, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone.”
