2024-08-01 01:37:43
39 police officers were injured in the unrest, the North West Ambulance Service said, as quoted by the British broadcaster BBC.
Earlier, Merseyside Police said eight officers suffered serious injuries, including fractures, lacerations, a suspected broken nose and concussion. One officer was knocked unconscious, and several suffered head and serious facial injuries. Three police dogs were also injured and bricks were thrown at two of them.
The disturbance, which police said was attended by supporters of the UK Defense League, began just a few streets away from the site of Wednesday’s vigil, near a mosque on St Luke’s Road in Southport.
According to the police, the participants in the conflict threw bricks at the mosque, set fire to cars and trash cans, and damaged a local store.
A total of 27 officers were taken to hospital and 12 were treated at the scene, emergency services said.
Police said the unrest has led to a 24-hour Section 60 order in the area, which gives officers greater powers to stop and search individuals. This order will remain in effect until Wednesday evening.
A section 34 order was also introduced to allow the police to target people who engage in anti-social behavior or are “likely to engage in such behaviour”.
Merseyside Police said extra officers would remain in the area to “ensure visibility and reassure communities”.
A small number of emergency services will also remain at the scene, on St Luke’s Road, to continue to assist police.
Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss said it was “disgusting” what was happening in the “devastated” community.
He stressed that the force had faced “serious violence” in Merseyside and he was “proud to see off-duty officers return to duty to support their colleagues who have shown such courage despite being under sustained and prolonged attack”.
Mr Goss also thanked officers from Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Lancashire and North Wales for their mutual aid and support.
He added that many people “who don’t live in Merseyside and don’t care about the people of Merseyside” got involved in the unrest.
“Unfortunately, criminals tore down garden walls to attack our officers with bricks, set public cars on fire and damaged cars parked in the mosque’s parking lot,” he said.
“This is not the way to treat a community, especially a community that still can’t recover from the events of Monday,” lamented Mr. Goss.
A 17-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder following Monday’s attack at a children’s dance club on Hart Street.
“There has been a lot of speculation and speculation about the status of a 17-year-old boy who is currently in police custody, and some are using that to bring violence and disorder to our streets,” Goss said.
“We have already said that the detainee was born in the United Kingdom and speculation is not helping anyone at this point,” he added.
There are security concerns
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wrote in the X that the people of Southport were “shaken” by the “horror inflicted on them yesterday”.
He said those who “hijacked the mourning for the victims through violence and fighting” had insulted the community and would “feel the full force of the law”.
Families living nearby told the BBC they feared for their safety as stones flew past and police rushed to put on riot gear and take out shields.
“I can’t believe this is happening in Southport,” one young woman shouted from her car as she tried to get her young daughter out.
The unrest began after hundreds of people gathered outside a local mosque and stormed the front, hurling bricks, bottles, fireworks and stones, many of them wearing hoods and covering their faces with scarves.
Merseyside Police said the attackers were motivated by social media posts wrongly suggesting that Monday’s attacks were linked to Islamists.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper previously warned against misinformation surrounding the attack. The suspect is not known to be affiliated with Islam.
Mr Cooper later said it was “appalling” that police officers in Southport had to deal with attacks by “thugs on the streets who have no respect for a grieving community”.
“I think everyone should show respect to the grieving community as well as the police who are currently conducting an urgent criminal investigation and who showed such heroism and courage yesterday in the face of these horrific attacks,” she reflected.
Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell ‘X’ also said she was “absolutely shocked by the disgraceful scenes of violence”.
“This community has suffered an unimaginable tragedy and is grieving. This behavior is abhorrent and only causes more harm and suffering,” she added.
Focus on victims
Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy wrote on the X social network that more than 1,000 Residents of Southport gathered at a vigil to remember the girls who died, the girls who are still in a critical condition in hospital and all those who witnessed and were traumatized by yesterday’s events.
“This is where all of our attention should be,” she explained.
The Liverpool Region Mosque Network said the scenes of violence “raise even greater fear and anxiety in our communities” and added that “we must all unite and stand together against all forms of hatred, violence and division.”
Southport MP Patrick Hurley said he was “deeply concerned by reports of violent protests tonight”.
He said they involved “people from outside our Southport community attacking our police and local residents”.
Parents pay BBC inf.
2024-08-01 01:37:43