The United Kingdom was left shaken after three children were stabbed to death and eight others were injured in a knife attack in Southport, the seaside town in northwest England on July 29.
Police named the girls who died in the attack as Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, Bebe King, 6, and 7-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe.
Merseyside Police confirmed that armed police "detained a male and seized a knife" following the incident, and said there was no wider threat to the public.
The force later said a 17-year-old boy from Banks, a Lancashire village to the north of Southport, was arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the stabbing.
Rumors later debunked, quickly circulated online that the suspect was an asylum-seeker or a Muslim immigrant. The suspect was born in Wales and moved to the Southport area in 2013. His parents were originally from Rwanda.
Knife crime incidents have become increasingly common across England and Wales in recent years.
Al Jazeera has quoted the Home Office as saying that some 14,577 offenses were recorded in the 12 months to December 2023.
Far-right agitators have sought to take advantage of the stabbing attack by tapping into concerns about the scale of immigration in the U.K.
CBSNEWS has reported that many of the demonstrations over the past week were organized online by far-right groups, who mobilize support with phrases like "enough is enough," "save our kids" and "stop the boats."
Rallying cries have come from a diffuse group of social media accounts, but a key player in amplifying them is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, a longtime far-right agitator who uses the name Tommy Robinson. He led the English Defense League, which Merseyside Police has linked to the violent protest in Southport on Tuesday, near the scene of the stabbing attack, added the source.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer strongly condemned the riots, describing them as "far-right thuggery".
The premier vowed that the authorities would "do whatever it takes to bring these thugs to justice" and that justice would be swift.
"I guarantee you will regret taking part in this disorder, whether directly or those whipping up this action online and then running away themselves," he said.
"This is not a protest, it is organized, violent thuggery and it has no place on our streets or online."
Thousands gathered on the streets of the UK on Saturday at anti-racist rallies.
The demonstrations came following anti-immigrant riots and violence which had gripped the country earlier this month following a fatal knife attack on children in Southport.
According to Euronews, It is estimated that around 2,500 people turned out for the march in the capital – with protesters chanting “refugees are welcome here.”
Police have so far arrested 779 people in connection with rioting, with 349 of those charged, BBC has quoted the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) as saying.
Anti-racism protesters also gathered across Scotland, with demonstrations taking place in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, and Dumfries.
Reported by Tohid Mahmoudpour
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