Anti-immigrant protesters have attacked police and started fires in the UK city of Sunderland, in the latest riot following a mass stabbing earlier this week that killed three girls. Eight people were arrested and three officers required hospital treatment.
The background: A 17-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of the girls in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop in the seaside town of Southport.
Violent incidents erupted in the following days in Southport, the northeastern town of Hartlepool, Manchester and London in reaction to false information on social media claiming the suspect was a radical Islamist migrant.
Police have emphasised that the suspect, Axel Rudakubana, was born in Britain.
The key quote: “The shocking scenes we have witnessed in Sunderland this evening are completely unacceptable,” Northumbria Police Chief Superintendent Helena Barron said.
Demonstrators have confronted police officers during protests across the UK. Source: AAP / Scott Heppell / PA/Alamy
What else to know: Police nationwide are preparing for planned anti-immigrant rallies as well as well as anti-facism counter-protests this weekend.
What happens next: British police chiefs have agreed to deploy officers in large numbers over the weekend to deter violence.
Mosques across the country are also on a heightened state of alert, the Muslim Council of Britain said.
Source Agencies
