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How Disinformation Fed a Far-Right Riot After a Deadly Stabbing in England [1]

['Megan Specia']

Date: 2024-07-31

Less than two hours after mourners gathered in Southport, England, on Tuesday evening to honor three children killed in a brutal stabbing attack, hundreds of rioters flooded the streets of the already traumatized town.

More than 50 police officers were injured in the ensuing violence, as demonstrators threw bricks at a mosque, attacked the police, set cars on fire and damaged a convenience store.

Although some details of the unrest remain opaque, one thing is clear, according to the police, lawmakers and experts in online extremism: Disinformation and far-right agitators fueled the violence.

Supporters of the English Defence League, an extremist anti-Islam organization, were part of a large group that attacked a mosque in Southport around 7.45 p.m., according to a statement from the Merseyside Police Service, which covers the region.

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[1] Url: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/31/world/europe/uk-stabbing-southport-riot-police.html

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