 "How UK's Southport stabbing led to attack on mosque and anti-Muslim violence")
Southport in the United Kingdom until Monday (July 29) was known as a seaside town with a population of 94,421. However, on July 29 it made headlines after three girls — aged six, seven and nine — were killed in a knife attack, which also injured others. It also gained notoriety after riots broke out in the seaside town, which also saw 50 police officers being attacked.
Amid the news of the riots, the 17-year-old accused has been charged with the murder of three girls and the attempted murder of 10 more people.
We take a closer look at what happened, and how the ensuing riots led to allegations of Islamophobia.
The stabbing in Southport
On Monday (July 29), a group of children were attending a Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance workshop at a studio in Southport when a man armed with a knife barged in and unleashed terror.
Police were called after they received reports of a stabbing and were “shocked” to find multiple people, many of whom were children, had been subjected to a “ferocious attack” and had suffered serious injuries.
Six-year-old Bebe King and seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe died on Monday, while Alice Dasilva Aguiar, aged nine, died in hospital early on Tuesday morning from injuries sustained in the attack. Eight other children were also injured, of which five are in critical condition.
As per the police, two adults were also injured while trying to protect the children and are in critical condition.
The police later arrested a 17-year-old boy on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. Without revealing more details about his identity, the police said that the suspect lived in Banks, a nearby village, but is originally from Cardiff, Wales.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsRiots ensue
The following evening, the town held a vigil to honour the children killed in the brutal attack. However, less than two hours after mourners had gathered, hundreds of rioters flooded the streets of the already traumatised town.
Slogans of “We want our country back,” “England ’til I die”, “Save our kids” and “F**k Muslims” were chanted by the angry mob who then went on a rampage, hurling bricks, wheelie bins, fireworks, lumps of concrete and bottles and even set cars alight. The angry rioters even vandalised local stores, destroyed garden walls and even attacked a local mosque.
More than 50 officers were reported to be injured – 49 from Merseyside police and four from Lancashire. Three police dogs, Zoe, Ike and Quga, were also hurt. Officers “sustained serious injuries including fractures, lacerations, a suspected broken nose and concussion,” Merseyside Police said. “Other officers have suffered varying degrees of injury including head injuries, serious facial injuries, and one was knocked unconscious.”
The police later said that they believed that supporters of the English Defence League, a far-right extremist organisation, were involved in the violence.
As the town dealt with the double blow of losing the young ones as well the damage caused by the riots, UK PM Keir Starmer promised that the “full force of the law” would be used against the rioters.
But the unrest isn’t limited to Southport alone. On Wednesday evening, a demonstration outside government buildings in London turned violent, with protesters clashing with the police. Flares were hurled at the gates of Downing Street. Beer cans and glass bottles rained down on police in riot gear, leaving some with minor injuries.
Muslim hate comes to the fore
The violence has put the spotlight on the anti-Muslim sentiment in the country, which is fuelled by misinformation.
Shortly after the attack, self-described ‘news’ accounts shared wrong information about the perpetrator of the attack. One viral narrative falsely named him as “Ali al-Shakati”, a Muslim migrant new to the UK. The police debunked this narrative, but it seems the damage was done.
A news channel with dubious origins, known as Channel 3 Now, also reported the false name of Ali Al-Shakati. They later apologised but the incorrect identification had been repeated widely on social media.
Other profiles — not using real names or images — copy-and-pasted the fake name to their own timelines across different, separate accounts to share the claim more widely.
Prominent rightwing figures also played a role in spreading Muslim hate after the attack. For instance, Tommy Robinson, a British far-right activist whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, on Tuesday posted to his X account: “There’s more evidence to suggest Islam is a mental health issue rather than a religion of peace. “They’re replacing the British nation with hostile, violent, aggressive migrants … Your children don’t matter to [the Labour government].”
Andrew Tate , the infamous influencer known to spout misogynistic remarks online, claimed the attacker was an “illegal migrant” and told people to “wake up”.
Other right-wingers and Islamobhopes used the false narrative to push forward their own agenda of hate, receiving millions of views. Sunder Katwala, director of the British Futures think tank, said the Southport case demonstrates the threat posed by anti-Muslim prejudice in Britain.
By attempting to link Muslim people to specific crimes, far-right groups are hoping to appeal to a broader segment of the population that continues to entertain anti-Muslim stereotypes, Katwala said to Washington Post.
Reacting to the Muslim hate being spewed online, the Liverpool Region Mosque Network said that it was “shocked and horrified” by the knife attack against children and adults at the dance school.
“A minority of people are attempting to portray that this inhumane act is somehow related to the Muslim community. Frankly, it is not, and we must not let those who seek to divide us spread hatred and use this as an opportunity,” it said.
Muslim hate on the rise
The Southport riots aren’t the only example of anti-Muslim hate in the UK. A charity has reported that anti-Muslim hate more than tripled in the four months since Hamas’ attacks. Tell Mama documented 2,010 Islamophobic incidents between October 7 and February 7 - a steep rise from the 600 it recorded for the same period the year previously.
It is the largest number over four months since the charity began in 2011. The charity added that slightly over half of the incidents in the past four months were cases of hate speech on social media. However, cases of physical assault, abusive behaviour, threats and acts of vandalism were also recorded.
With inputs from agencies
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