Far-Right Riots Near Scene of Mass Stabbing

Far-right protesters fueled by anger and false online rumors hurled bottles and stones at police, wounding more than 20 officers Tuesday outside a northwest England mosque near where three girls were fatally stabbed a day earlier. Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the "thuggery" and said the crowd had hijacked what had earlier been a peaceful vigil attended by hundreds in the center of Southport to mourn the dead and show support for 10 surviving stabbing victims, seven of whom were in critical condition, the AP reports. He said they had "insulted the community as it grieves."

Police said the violent crowd that torched a police van and several cars was believed to be supporters of the English Defence League, a far-right group, and the mayhem was inspired by rumors about the identity of the teenage suspect arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.

• "There has been much speculation and hypothesis around the status of a 17-year-old male who is currently in police custody and some individuals are using this to bring violence and disorder to our streets," Merseyside Police Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss said.
• Police previously said a suspect's name circulating on social media was incorrect and the boy was born in Britain, contrary to online claims he was an asylum seeker.

• The Liverpool Region Mosque Network posted a statement decrying the "heinous" stabbing as an attack against society that was unconnected to Islam. "A minority of people are attempting to portray that this inhumane act is somehow related to the Muslim community," the group said. "Frankly it is not, and we must not let those who seek to divide us and spread hatred use this as an opportunity."
• "Sadly, offenders have destroyed garden walls so they could use the bricks to attack our officers and have set cars belonging to the public on fire, and damaged cars parked in the mosque car park," said Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss. "This is no way to treat a community, least of all a community that is still reeling from the events of Monday."
• Police said 22 officers were injured, eight of them seriously, along with three police dogs, the Liverpool Echo reports. Eleven officers were hospitalized with injuries including fractures and concussion.
• Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9; Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7; and Bebe King, 6, died from their injuries after the Monday attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class, police said. Swift said Tuesday that she was "in complete shock" at the horror of the attack and she is at a "complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families."

(More United Kingdom stories.)