Protesters clashed with police near Downing Street in London on Wednesday as Britain faced a second night of demonstrations following the deaths of three young girls in a frenzied knife attack at a dance class.
Thousands gathered near the Prime Minister’s residence shouting “Save our kids”; “We want our country back”; and “Stop the boats” as well as English football chants
A large number of police wearing helmets formed a barrier around the protesters, who earlier threw flares and smoke canisters towards Downing Street.
Police were also braced for further trouble in the English seaside town of Southport, where Monday’s stabbings took place. More than 50 officers were injured on Tuesday night in violent clashes.
A 17-year-old male was in police custody on suspicion of murder and attempted murder after the bloody rampage on Monday at a “Taylor Swift yoga and dance workshop”, a summer vacation event for children aged 6 to 11.
Disturbances in Southport on Tuesday took place after false information was spread on social media that the suspect behind Monday’s stabbings was a radical Islamist migrant.
Police vans were set on fire and protesters hurled bricks, bottles, and fireworks at officers and at cars parked at the town’s mosque.
“Just to reassure the communities of Southport, who I am sure are worried about ‘are we going to see this again tonight?’ – we are planning for this evening and the weekend ahead,” Serena Kennedy, chief constable of Merseyside Police, told reporters.
As well as killing three girls aged six to nine, Monday’s attack in the normally quiet town in northwest England saw eight other children stabbed. Five remained in critical condition in hospital, along with two adults who tried to protect them.
Police are legally restricted in the details they can provide about the alleged teenage attacker, but they have said the incident was not terrorism-related and that he was born in Britain, quashing speculation on his origins.
That did not prevent protesters, who police believe were supporters of a right-wing anti-Islam, anti-immigration group, from targeting the mosque and attacking police who tried to stop them.
