2024 United Kingdom riots
Civil unrest in the UK following mass stabbing / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Far-right protesters[lower-alpha 2] have rioted in various parts of the United Kingdom[lower-alpha 1] since 30 July 2024. This followed a mass stabbing of children in Southport on 29 July. The initial riot in Southport and subsequent riots elsewhere have been linked to disinformation on social media, in addition to pre-existing Islamophobic, racist, and anti-immigrant sentiment.
This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (August 2024) |
2024 United Kingdom riots | ||||
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Part of far-right politics in the United Kingdom | ||||
Date | 30 July 2024 – present (6 days) | |||
Location | Various locations[lower-alpha 1] | |||
Caused by | ||||
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Casualties and losses | ||||
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The riots began on 30 July when a crowd, including supporters of the Islamophobic and now-disbanded English Defence League, gathered outside Southport Mosque. Some protesters incorrectly believed that the suspect in the mass stabbing, a 17-year-old male, was a Muslim immigrant due to misinformation on social media platforms. Protestors attacked police officers, threw objects at the mosque, and set a police vehicle on fire. The riot left over fifty officers injured, some seriously, and three police dogs wounded. Multiple arrests were made.
The unrest spread to other parts of England, and also Belfast in Northern Ireland, in the following days. On 31 July, over 100 protesters were arrested in London and demonstrations occurred in Manchester, Hartlepool and Aldershot. On 2 August, rioting took place in Sunderland, where a police station was set on fire, three police officers were injured, and several people were arrested. On 3 August, far-right protesters clashed with police and counter-protesters in several locations, with a library in Liverpool being set on fire. On 4 August, rioters smashed windows and set fire to Holiday Inn Express buildings in both Rotherham and Tamworth that were housing migrants. In Middlesbrough, rioters smashed windows and targeted houses and cars in a residential area, and in Bolton, anti-immigration protests and counter-protesters clashed with police.
The riots – the worst since the 2011 England riots[11] – have been described as Islamophobic,[12][13][14] racist,[15][16] anti-immigration,[17][18][19] and far-right.[lower-alpha 2][17][24] The fascist National Front party and British Movement had spread misinformation online,[25][4] and members of the neo-Nazi group Patriotic Alternative took part in and helped organise the Southport riots.[26][2]