Protests turn violent in Sunderland as UK unrest spreads

More than a dozen protests are planned by anti-immigration demonstrators across the UK this weekend. (PA Photo/AP)

LONDON: Protesters attacked police and started fires in Sunderland on Friday, as violence following the killing of three children in northwest England on Monday spread to another northern city.

Anti-immigrant protesters threw stones at police in riot gear near a mosque in the city before overturning vehicles, setting a car on fire and starting a fire next to a police station, the BBC reported.

Northumbria Police said its officers had been “victims of serious violence” and were continuing to deal with ongoing disturbances.

“The scenes we are seeing are completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” police said in a statement on X.

The Sunderland protest was one of dozens planned by anti-immigration protesters across the UK this weekend, including near at least two mosques in Liverpool, the city closest to where the children were killed.

Several anti-racist counter-demonstrations were also planned.

British police were deployed in force across the country on Friday and mosques had increased security, authorities said.

A 17-year-old boy has been charged with murdering the girls in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop in the seaside town of Southport, a crime that shocked the nation.

Violent incidents broke out in the following days in Southport, the north-eastern town of Hartlepool and London, in response to false reports on social media claiming that the suspect in the stabbings was a radical Islamist migrant.

In an attempt to dispel misinformation, police stressed that the suspect, Axel Rudakubana, was born in Britain.

Swift justice

Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer made a second visit to Southport since the killings.

“As a nation, we stand in solidarity with those who tragically lost loved ones in the heinous attack in Southport, which tore at the very fabric of this community and left us all in shock,” he said in a statement.

British police chiefs have agreed to deploy large numbers of officers over the weekend to deter violence.

“We will have surge capacity in our intelligence, in our briefings and in the resources that are out in local communities,” Gavin Stephens, chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, told BBC radio.

“There will be additional prosecutors available to make quick decisions, so that justice is served quickly.”

Mosques across the country are also on heightened alert, the Muslim Council of Britain said.

Zara Mohammed, the council’s security chief, said representatives from hundreds of mosques had agreed to step up security measures at a briefing on Thursday. Many at the meeting also expressed concern about the safety of their congregants after receiving threatening and abusive phone calls.

“I think there is a feeling within the community that we will not be afraid, but we will be cautious and circumspect,” Mohammed said in an interview.

Police in Southport, where protesters attacked police, set fire to vehicles and threw bricks at a mosque on Tuesday night, said they were aware of the planned demonstrations and had “detailed plans and considerable police resources” to deal with any disorder.

Northern Ireland Police also said they were planning a “proportionate policing response” after learning of plans by various groups to block roads, stage protests and march on an Islamic centre in Belfast over the weekend.