Thousands of UK riot police stood poised on Wednesday to cope with any further outbreaks of violence, which began more than a week ago when three youngsters were murdered.
According to tweets released to the British media on the messaging app Telegram, far-right groups have organized rallies in more than 30 sites, with immigration attorneys and shelters housing asylum seekers as the major focus.
The government has announced that 6,000 professional police officers are preparing to cope with England’s worst disruption in almost a decade, which has resulted in hundreds of arrests and more than 100 charges.
The violence erupted after three girls, ages nine, seven, and six, were killed and five others badly injured in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift dance class in Southport, northwest England.
False allegations circulated on social media that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker. The suspect was later identified as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, who was born in Wales. According to UK media, his parents are from Rwanda.
Despite the police statement, the early disturbances in Southport focused on a local mosque, and widespread violence has subsequently erupted across England and Northern Ireland.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned late Tuesday that anyone involved would face “the full force of the law,” including those who incite violence online.
Following his second emergency meeting in as many days on Tuesday, Starmer, a former chief state prosecutor, stated that he expected “substantive sentencing before the end of this week” for the rioters.
“That should send a very powerful message to anybody involved, either directly or online,” he added in televised comments.
The unrest, Britain’s worst since the 2011 London riots, has led a number of countries to warn its citizens about the dangers of travelling in the United Kingdom.
Musk row
Demonstrators in numerous cities have thrown stones and flares at police officers, burned cars, and attacked mosques and at least two hotels that have housed asylum seekers.
Scores of suspected perpetrators appeared before magistrates on Tuesday, with some entering guilty pleas.
A 19-year-old male was sentenced to two months in prison on Tuesday, becoming the first individual to be sentenced in connection with the riots, according to PA Media.
Another man was convicted after admitting to attacking a police officer outside a hotel hosting asylum seekers in Rotherham, northern England, on Sunday.
A 15-year-old boy pleaded guilty to causing violent disturbance in Liverpool on Saturday after being identified by a TikTok video, while a man in Leeds admitted to posting threatening statements on Facebook to incite racial hatred.
The government, which is only one month old, has vowed to take a stern stance on the unrest.
“99.9% of people across the country want their streets to be safe and to feel safe in their communities, and we will take all necessary action to bring the disorder to an end,” Starmer told reporters on Tuesday.
Heidi Alexander, Justice Minister, told BBC Radio 4 that the government had freed up an additional 500 prison seats.
Police have blamed the disorder on members of the now-defunct English Defence League, a far-right Islamophobic outfit created 15 years ago and whose fans have been linked to football hooliganism.
The events have been advertised on far-right social media sites under the banner “Enough is enough”.
Interior Minister Yvette Cooper stated that “there will be a reckoning” for culprits, adding that social media provided a “rocket booster” to the violence.
Elon Musk, a tech entrepreneur, compared the UK government to “the Soviet Union” on Tuesday, escalating a disagreement. A representative for Starmer had stated there was “no justification” for Musk’s earlier comment that a British “civil war is inevitable”.