Southport riots: How anti-Muslim misinformation fuelled mob attack
How did an online misinformation campaign spark an anti-Muslim mob attack on a mosque in England’s Southport?
Senior UK government figures have intervened to condemn the violence, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer promising rioters would “feel the full force of the law”.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner on Wednesday criticised social media users for spreading “untruths” online after the attack, which followed a violent stabbing incident at a dance school in which three girls were killed in Southport.
“Speculation and some of the untruths that have been put around social media,” she told ITV, “not only create tensions and fear in the community, but it’s disrespectful to families who maybe want those answers that haven’t got those answers.”
On Tuesday evening, hundreds of masked men gathered outside a Southport mosque could be seen hurling plant pots, bricks and empty bins at riot police, shortly before they set a police van on fire.
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Some of the mosque's windows were smashed in the process and a wall was damaged, while Merseyside Police said 27 officers were taken to hospital as a result of clashes with the mob.
The mob was composed of English Defence League supporters, according to the police.
Its targeting of a mosque was the result of a major online misinformation campaign, which involved claims that a 17-year-old who killed three children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on Monday in Southport was a Muslim "illegal immigrant".
Social media personalities including fugitive far-right activist Tommy Robinson, former GB News presenter Laurence Fox and influencer Andrew Tate were involved in spreading the misinformation.
How did it all unfold?
27 million views
The deadly attack on a dance class took place on Monday. Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were all fatally stabbed, with eight other children suffering stab wounds and five left in critical condition, alongside two adults who were also critically injured.
BBC News reported late on Tuesday that the 17-year-old suspect was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents and had moved to the Southport area in 2013. Because the suspect is under 18 he cannot be legally identified.
Police provided no details except that he was born in the UK. The Sun newspaper reported that he was born in Cardiff in 2006 after his parents, who are Christian, moved from Rwanda.
But by then, fake news about the suspect’s identity had already exploded on the internet - particularly on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
According to researcher Marc Owen Jones, posts on X saying or speculating that the attacker was a Muslim, migrant, refugee or foreigner received at least 27 million views in less than a day.
One of the most prominent accounts spreading the fake news was Tommy Robinson, the former leader of the far-right English Defence League and a longtime anti-Islam activist.
Robinson is currently believed to be somewhere in Europe, having fled the country on Sunday to "put himself beyond the reach of [UK] authorities" where he was due to be in court over alleged contempt proceedings.
Shortly after the violence began, Robinson - whose real-name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon - said the violent mob was "justified" in its actions.
In an expletive-laden rant posted on X, Robinson said: "Before anyone starts condemning the angry English men up in Southport, ask yourselves this, what do you fucking expect them to do? Don’t call them hooligans - they’re justified in their anger."
Andrew Tate
Another major source of misinformation was former kickboxer and influencer Andrew Tate, who posted a video of himself in a car claiming that the attacker was an illegal migrant. The video had received nearly 15 million views at time of publication.
Tate doubled down on his inaccurate claim after it emerged the suspect was born in Cardiff. “This is The Matrix trying to stop you from understanding the truth about the illegal migrants they allow in,” he posted.
“Putting them in free hotels in Cardiff after they invite [sic] the country, doesn’t mean they’re FROM Cardiff.”
“He’s from Cardiff he’s from Cardiff”
— Andrew Tate (@Cobratate) July 30, 2024
This is The Matrix trying to stop you from understanding the truth about the illegal migrants they allow in.
Putting them in free hotels in Cardiff after they invite the country, doesn’t mean they’re FROM Cardiff. https://t.co/1KGyE46NvK
The “Matrix” is regularly mentioned in Tate’s online content, meaning establishment forces trying to present a different version of reality to the one that exists.
Tate, unlike other prominent figures spreading misinformation, is a Muslim - having publicly converted in late 2022. He is also a firm critic of Israel.
Tate is awaiting trial on human trafficking and rape charges, which he denies. At the time of publication, he had not commented on the mob attack on the mosque in Southport.
'Ali Al-Shakati' - a fake name
A key piece of fake news circulated around was the name “Ali Al-Shakati”, supposedly the Middle Eastern name of the attacker.
The source of this misinformation, investigative journalist Katherine Denkinson reported, was a website called Channel3Now, which claims to be a US-based news organisation but is accused of being run from Russia.
Channel3Now told Middle East Eye over email: “we are not russian based or any affiliation with any russian media or sources.”
The website published a “sincere apology and correction” over its reporting on Wednesday afternoon.
But on Tuesday the fake name, “Ali Al-Shakati”, went viral online. One of the major accounts spreading it was the Unity News Network, a website which has been widely accused of trafficking in conspiracy theories and is headed by former Conservative and Labour councillor David Clews.
Meanwhile Laurence Fox, a former GB News presenter who said after the attack that “We need to permanently remove Islam from Great Britain” and took part in a Tommy Robinson-organised protest in London last weekend, has also been accused of stirring up trouble online.
“There is no political solution to this problem,” he posted on Tuesday afternoon, in reference to the stabbings. “We are going to have to take our country back. Street by street.” That post has been seen nearly 300,000 times.
During the riot on Tuesday evening, Fox posted a video of people attacking police vehicles and throwing items at officers with the caption: “We are about to witness the long overdue correction to the approved narrative.”
There were other similar instances. David Atherton, a journalist for The European Conservative with over 200,000 followers on X, claimed on Monday that the suspect was a migrant from the Middle East. On Tuesday, he issued an apology for his post.
'Tommy Robinson in a suit'
Nigel Farage, newly elected MP for Clacton and leader of Reform UK, has been accused of encouraging trouble over a video he posted on Tuesday suggesting the “truth is being withheld” from the public about the killings.
“I just wonder whether the truth is being withheld from us. I don’t know the answer, but I think it is a fair and legitimate question,” he said.
Labour MP Jess Phillips slammed Farage on Wednesday and accused him of “grifting”, while Brendan Cox - the husband of Jo Cox, an MP killed by a far-right attacker in 2016 - labelled him “Tommy Robinson in a suit”. Farage described the comment as “beneath contempt”.
“Who are the perpetrators? Why? Very legitimate questions I was asking, and to conflate that with EDL or anybody else, frankly, it’s desperate stuff.”
'This is about children and their families who will be grieving, and the many other children who were involved yesterday who will be facing great trauma as well'
- Yvette Cooper, British home secretary
Local police said on Tuesday evening that the rioters were supporters of the English Defence League, an anti-Islam hate group founded in 2009. Activists in other far-right groups, National Action and Patriotic Alternative, are also thought to have been involved in organising the mobilisation.
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, had earlier warned against using the killing of three schoolgirls to "stir up division" and spread misinformation online.
"Above all, this is about young children," she said. "This is about children and their families who will be grieving, and the many other children who were involved yesterday who will be facing great trauma as well."
In a statement late on Tuesday, Zara Mohammed, the secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, called on the government to address "the increasing rise of violent far-right extremism targeting Muslim communities".
Mohammed said: "More must be done to tackle Islamophobia and offer reassurance at this time. We commend the authorities for their swift action, and our prayers are with the mosque, the families of the victims of yesterday's attack, and the local community."
But there have been no comments from government figures linking the event to Islamophobia or addressing Muslims directly.
On its Facebook page, made well before the violence erupted, the Southport Islamic Society Mosque said that they were "truly shocked and saddened" about Monday's attack.
After the riots, the mosque released another statement: “After a terrible night, and large casualties from the innocent police force, the siege of Southport Mosque is finally over. Big thanks to the police and the officials and the wonderful community that helped with actions and kind words to protect us and stand with us in our hour of need.”
On Wednesday morning, around 100 local residents were seen helping repair damage to the mosque and the surrounding street, including rebuilding one of the mosque’s walls.
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