Over 1,000 arrested in UK after anti-Muslim riots

UK police have arrested over 1,000 people in connection with anti-Muslim riots which took place over the last two weeks in England, officials said.

"Forces across the country have now made more than 1,000 arrests in connection with the recent violent disorder," the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) said on X on Tuesday.

At least 575 people have been charged as courts continued to deal with those involved in the disorder, which took place across dozens of towns and cities in England and Northern Ireland following the death of three girls in a stabbing on July 29.

Those arrested include a 69-year-old accused of vandalism in Liverpool and an 11-year-old boy in Belfast.

A 13-year-old girl pleaded guilty to violent disorder at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court, prosecutors said, having been seen on July 31 punching and kicking the entrance to a hotel for asylum seekers.

"This alarming incident will have caused genuine fear amongst people who were being targeted by these thugs – and it is particularly distressing to learn that such a young girl participated in this violent disorder," prosecutor Thomas Power said.

Misinformation

Far-right riots took place after misinformation spread about the identity of the alleged perpetrator of the knife attack, with multiple people being jailed for spreading hate online in recent days.

Far-right rioters pinned the blame on a Muslim asylum seeker, which was false, as the suspect was named as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, born in the UK to Rwandan parents and a Christian.

By the time a judge said the teen suspect could be identified, rumours were already rife and far-right influencers had pinned the blame on immigrants and Muslims, leading to anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant riots.

The United Kingdom's judiciary is swiftly moving through court cases and handing down lengthy sentences after disorder calmed down ahead of the weekend, and the government vowed to crackdown on those involved.

The last time Britain witnessed widespread rioting was in 2011, when the fatal shooting of a Black man by police triggered several days of street violence.