2024 United Kingdom riots
Date | 30 July 2024 - Present |
---|---|
Interest of | Elon Musk |
Interests | • 'Tommy Robinson' • Elon Musk • English Defence League • Reform UK |
Description | Cities and towns affected by the 2024 United Kingdom riots |
The 2024 United Kingdom riots took place when far-right activists rioted in various parts of the United Kingdom 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 seen as a response to the mass stabbing as well as pre-existing Islamophobic and anti-immigrant sentiment.[1]
Background
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 rioters were led to believe on social media that the suspect in the 2024 Southport stabbing, a 17-year-old male, was a Muslim immigrant. Rioters 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.[2]
Arrests
The unrest spread to other parts of England, and also Belfast in Northern Ireland, in the following days. On 31 July 2024, over 100 rioters were arrested in London and riots 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 rioters 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 riots and counter-protesters clashed with police.[3]
The riots – the worst since the 2011 England riots – have been described as Islamophobic, racist, anti-immigration, and far-right. The fascist National Front Party and British Movement had spread propaganda online, and members of the neo-Nazi group Patriotic Alternative took part in and helped organise the Southport riots.[4]
Civil war?
On 4 August 2024, Elon Musk posted on X:
- Civil war is inevitable.[5]
PM Keir Starmer's spokesman responded:
- “There is no justification for comments like that. What we’ve seen in this country is organised, illegal thuggery which has no place on our streets or online.
References
- ↑ "Who are the EDL? Far right group believed to be behind Southport riot"
- ↑ "Dozens arrested in violent clashes across the country as government warns rioters ‘will pay the price’"
- ↑ "'We're watching you,' far-right protesters warned"
- ↑ "Downing Street condemns Elon Musk for claim ‘civil war is inevitable’ in UK amid far-right riots and attacks"
- ↑ "Civil war is inevitable"
- ↑ "UK PM slams Elon Musk for saying far-right riots ‘inevitable’"
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