Since the end of July, England has been in the firm grip of violent riots led by members of the British far-right. Driven by anti-immigrant and Islamophobic sentiment, these riots have affected people’s lives and livelihoods, with the state seemingly unable to quell the violence.

Mobs threw bricks and flares, attacked police, burnt and looted shops, smashed the windows of cars and homes, and targeted at least two hotels housing asylum seekers over the weekend.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed “swift criminal sanctions” to what he termed “far-right thuggery”, while Home Secretary Yvette Cooper stated “there will be a reckoning” for the perpetrators, adding that social media had put a “rocket booster” under the riots.

On social media, footage of these riots is rife, with extremists on both sides of the issue disseminating propaganda to malign each other and fueling hateful sentiments.

Why are people rioting?

The riots erupted after the murders of Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, Bebe King, 6, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, in the Merseyside town of Southport on July 29. Nine other children were wounded, six of them critically, and two adults were in serious condition.

“We believe that the adults who were injured were bravely trying to protect the children,” said Chief Constable Serena Kennedy from Merseyside Police. A 17-year-old man from Cardiff was held on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.

Misinformation began spreading online about the suspect’s identity, with posts on X, Telegram, and TikTok alleging that the suspect was a Muslim immigrant.

According to an investigation by Sky News, information began circulating that the suspect was named Ali Al Shakati, a migrant who arrived illegally in the UK in 2023.

A day after the incident, groups of people, many from outside the town, hurled bricks at police and a local mosque, set fires, and threw bottles, with more than 50 officers injured, Sky News reported.

With rampant misinformation fueling the violence, a British court publicised the identity of the suspected attacker — 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana — in a landmark ruling on August 1. Rudakubana was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, according to the BBC.

In the UK, minors charged with a criminal offence normally have their identity concealed as per Section 49 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933.

‘Enough is Enough’

Unrest spread over the course of the week, with rioters targeting mosques and smashing windows of hotels housing asylum-seekers from Africa and the Middle East, chanting “Get them out”, in the first widespread outbreak of violence in Britain for 13 years. Footage shared on social media also shows gangs of rioters attacking ethnic minorities.

The rallies have been advertised on far-right social media channels under the banner “Enough is enough”, with rioters chanting “stop the boats” — a reference to illegal migration by sea. Violence has been reported in Sunderland, Bristol, Rotherham and elsewhere.

Authorities are blaming supporters of the now-defunct English Defence League (EDL) for inciting the riots and spreading misinformation on social media.

This violence has not been solely limited to the far right, however, as videos and images circulating on social media show gangs of Muslim men engaging in vandalism and looting. Elon Musk, the owner of X, notably shared a video of a reported gang of Muslim men with Palestine flags vandalising a pub.

This footage has been shared by far-right accounts as Islamophobic propaganda, alongside images of minority citizens wielding bladed weapons like machetes in public.

Dawn.com has not been able to independently verify these images.

‘It doesn’t feel like home’

Ethnic minorities, particularly Muslims, have stated that they feel unsafe amidst the violence. “I was born here, I was raised here. So seeing this, it just doesn’t feel like home,” said Liverpool resident Abdulwase Sufian. “Seeing what’s happened, it’s gotten me scared, not just for myself, but for the future.”

Farmanullah Nasiri, a taxi driver, described being assaulted after picking up two passengers from Aigburth Road in Liverpool in the early hours of August 6.

One of them, a woman, allegedly punched him in the face and broke his dashcam as she left his silver Ford Focus after starting an argument over the fare and abusing him once she learnt he was an ethnic Afghan, Nasiri said. He did not file a police complaint.

Condoned and Condemned

She also shared a video of people rebuilding Southport mosque on X, captioning it “The #BestOfBritain on display”.

Conservative peer Sayeeda Warsi said that she is “not surprised that this is happening”, adding that she had predicted the rise of Islamophobia as far back as 2011.

“You go back 15 years, in 2011 when I said that Islamophobia has passed the ‘dinner table test’ that is this underlying racism […] that is deliberately and consistently been put out by the most powerful people in politics, media,” she said on the ITV News programme ‘This Morning’.

Speaking about her experience growing up in England in the 1970s, the ex-minister said, “Violence is something we were subjected to. But what I found when I sat in the corridors of power […] this new form of racism was being found in the most respectable of settings. It was being couched in terms, language which wasn’t brutal […] but just as corrosive and just as divisive.”

Warsi also took to X to discourage members of minority communities from responding to “provocation” from far-right groups. “Let the police do their job,” she wrote. “Let the courts deal with the culprits. These arsonists pretending to be patriots are setting our country alight. Now more than ever we must be the ones to choose peace over conflict and harmony over hate.”

https://x.com/SayeedaWarsi/status/1821169729739866286

Far-right agitator and EDL founder Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson, has received widespread blame for encouraging the riots on social media.

He has a noted track record of spreading Islamophobic and anti-immigrant views both through legacy and digital media, which has gotten him involved in litigation for hate crimes. He is currently travelling in Europe, allegedly evading a British court order.

“The media, politicians, all of them are telling the British public I have used your platform to instigate violence and riots, which is the polar opposite of what I have used the X platform for,” Robinson wrote on X, shifting blame onto the mainstream media.

“Unfortunately, as they have managed to censor me and others like me on all other big tech platforms they are now coming for X, to pressure you into censoring me as well. Why? So they can lie to the public and manipulate the narrative,” he writes.

Over the past week, Robinson has shared content in favour of the rioters, such as sharing videos of hotels housing asylum seekers being attacked while calling the occupants “unvetted migrant men “.

Reform UK leader and far-right politician Nigel Farage uploaded a video statement to his X account about the PM’s response to the violence. “His [the PM’s] conclusion? It’s all the far right, as if they’re causing all the problems” Farage said.

The Reform UK chief stated that the far-right is a “reaction to fear, to discomfort, to unease […] shared by tens of millions of people”. He added that law and order is “breaking down” and the prime minister “hasn’t got an earthly clue how to deal with it”.

However, Farage has condemned the violence, saying “Let me be clear. I don’t support street violence. I don’t support thuggery in any way at all.”

He also uploaded a statement to X slamming “two-tier policing” — a phrase used to describe the impression that some protests and demonstrations are dealt with more harshly than others — and stating that the “fracturing of our communities” is a result of “mass, uncontrolled immigration”.

Farage demanded that PM Keir Starmer recall Parliament from the summer holiday to address the ongoing crisis.

Owner of X and tech billionaire Elon Musk angered the government by stating “civil war is inevitable” when responding to a post slamming immigration. According to AFP, Musk also referenced a dubious claim about policing that has been widely denied by lawmakers from across the political spectrum and police chiefs.

Since his tumultuous takeover of Twitter, Elon Musk has made an unabashed turn to the right politically, reinstating accounts belonging to right-wing and ultra-conservative figures including former US President Donald Trump and Tommy Robinson. He has also accused the British government of employing “two-tier policing”.

‘Refugees welcome’

Wednesday night saw thousands of largely peaceful anti-fascism protesters take to the streets across England to oppose the far-right violence that gripped the country. Carrying placards with messages like “Refugees welcome” and chanting pro-immigrant slogans, protesters mobilised in cities including London, Birmingham, Sheffield, and Newcastle.

“Whose streets? Our streets!” chanted protesters at a few-thousand-strong gathering in Walthamstow, northeast London, where some held banners saying ‘Stop the far right.’“

Andy Valentine, the Met Police’s deputy assistant commissioner, thanked “communities for coming together across the capital and for showing community spirit this evening”.

Meanwhile, in Sheffield, activists chanted “Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here,” as riot police looked on.

In Birmingham, hundreds of anti-racism protesters gathered outside a migrant support centre, while in Brighton, around 2,000 people took part in a peaceful demonstration, according to police.

The government had put 6,000 specialist police on standby to deal with the approximately 100 demonstrations by far-right activists and counter-protesters that were advertised.

In a social media post, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper thanked “all the police officers working tonight to protect & support local communities”.