Following the horrific events on the 29th of July 2024 in Southport where a 17-year-old boy stabbed and killed three girls– a wave of unprecedented xenophobic violence against Muslim people and other people of colour took place. So far, 800 rioters have been arrested and 350 charged. Amid the chao two things are clear – (1) the spread of misinformation (including by figures like Elon Musk, Tommy Robinson and Nigel Farage) played a central role in inciting the violence and (2) the rioters used this incident to further their agenda.

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Readings:

UK riots: five essential reads on what triggered a week of violence by Laura Hood

https://theconversation.com/uk-riots-five-essential-reads-on-what-triggered-a-week-of-violence-236536

The Take: How far will the UK riots go?, Al Jazeera:

https://www.aljazeera.com/podcasts/2024/8/7/the-take-how-far-will-the-uk-riots-go

Look back and see a British history of riots and racial progress. It isn’t pretty, but it is us by Robert Winder:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/10/british-history-riots-racial-progress

Riots take British Asians back to 1970s and 1980s by Sima Kotecha

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckg2r3lxzedo

Britain is hoping its riots have peaked. But the far right is lingering, and more trouble could lie ahead by Rob Picheta

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/10/uk/uk-far-right-riots-tension-intl-gbr/index.html

UK riots: What happens now? Planned counter-protests mapped including Nigel Farage’s office by Albert Toth

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-riots-planned-today-counter-protest-london-b2594351.html

Video doorbells, CCTV, facial recognition: how the police tracked UK rioters by James Tapper and Shanti Das:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/aug/10/video-doorbells-cctv-facial-recognition-even-masked-rioters-could-end-up-in-court

Tommy Robinson ‘could face jail’ over film screening at London protest by Christy Cooney https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/jul/27/eight-arrested-at-far-right-tommy-robinson-protest-in-central-london