British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday that a “permanent army” of specialized police would be created and that the judicial system would be strengthened to deal with the riots that have shaken several cities across the country in the last week.
Starmer called a urgent meeting as a result of chaos recently unleashed in United Kingdomwhich he attributed to far-right activists Yet the disinformation on social media, which fueled anger over a Knife attack in a dance class that left three girls dead and many more people injured. The false rumors That spread online that the suspect was a Muslim and asylum seeker led to attacks against immigrants and Muslims.
“Whatever the apparent motivation, this is not a protest. It is pure violence and we will not tolerate attacks on mosques or our Muslim communities,” Starmer said. “The full weight of the law will be applied to all those who are identified as participants in these activities”.
On Sunday, angry crowds attacked two hotels used for shelter asylum seekers, breaking windows and setting fires before police dispersed the crowd and residents were evacuated. In the last six days, dozens of police officers have been hospitalized from injuries after being hit with bricks, bottles and large wooden poles. Oliver Coppard, mayor of South Yorkshire, where one of the hotels was attacked, attributed the violence to “far-right thugs”.
“As Keir said, as every decent person has said, I think these are far-right thugs who They attacked some of the most vulnerable people in our communities and there is absolutely no excuse,” Coppard told the BBC. “There can never be any excuse for trying to burn to death 200 of the most vulnerable people in our community.”
Social networks, breeding ground for extremist violence
A Starmer spokesman said: The intervention of the Army has not been requested. The Ministry of the Interior, responsible for law and order, has offered mosques greater protection under a new “rapid response process” designed to quickly address the threat of further attacks on places of worship.
Starmer’s spokesman said after the meeting that the Social media platforms have not done enough to prevent the spread of misinformation that has fueled far-right violence, and promised that anyone who foments disorder, online or in the streets, could face prosecution. prison. Some of that false and misleading information would come from foreign states.
“The disinformation that we have seen online attracts amplification of the known activity of ‘bots‘, which, as I say, can be linked to state-backed activities,” the spokesperson said, according to statements cited in a statement about the meeting.
