Violent clashes broke out Tuesday evening between police and protesters in Southport, a town in the northwest of England where a knife attack during a dance class to the music of Taylor Swift cost the lives of three young girls on Monday, an AFP journalist noted.
Police are questioning a 17-year-old boy arrested shortly after Monday’s stabbing but have not yet given any indication of a possible motive, saying only that the terrorist theory is not being pursued at this stage.
On Tuesday evening, around a hundred demonstrators lit fires and clashed with the police, according to an AFP journalist present at the scene, where thick plumes of smoke were rising.
In videos circulating on social media, a police vehicle appears to be on fire and protesters were throwing projectiles at police, and appeared to be targeting a local mosque.
Merseyside Police said one of its officers suffered a suspected broken nose in the clashes, and “suspected” the protesters were “supporters” of the far-right English Defence League (EDL).
“Officers deployed are currently encountering criminal behaviour and violence, with bottles and bins being thrown at them,” police added.
The clashes erupted in Southport shortly after a vigil in the centre of the traumatised seaside town, where hundreds of people gathered in the early evening and observed a minute’s silence.
The earlier revelation by the police of the identities of the three dead girls, aged six, seven and nine, has further increased the shock following the tragedy which took place on Monday, in the middle of the school holidays, during a children’s activity based around the music of the American star Taylor Swift.
According to the latest report, five of the eight injured children are in a “critical” condition.
The parents of the nine-year-old girl who was killed are Portuguese and originally from the island of Madeira, the Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities Abroad, Jose Cesario, confirmed to AFP.
Two adults were also seriously injured, probably while trying to “protect” the children. The British media have notably mentioned one of the club’s leaders, Leanne Lucas, whose courage is being praised on social networks, like that of other “heroes” who intervened during the attack.
“Pain and Sorrow”
Throughout the day, passers-by left flowers, cards and stuffed animals on Hart Street, the street of mourning.
“Nothing like this has happened here before. […] “We’re all suffering, we’re all trying to understand,” Sue Endacott, 59, who lives around the corner, told AFP.
After Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, the new Prime Minister Keir Starmer went to the scene of the attack on Tuesday afternoon, where he in turn laid a wreath of white flowers, before reflecting for a few moments, face lowered.
He stressed that families were experiencing “raw pain and grief that most of us cannot imagine.”
According to the account of events given by the police, who were called to the scene on Monday shortly before noon (7 a.m. in Quebec), the assailant entered the building and began attacking the children who were participating in an activity, presented by the organizers on social networks as a dance and yoga class on the theme of Taylor Swift.
The singer, who is currently on a world tour, said she was “completely shocked” in a message posted on Instagram. “They were just little kids in a dance class.”
British fans of the singer have launched an online collection which has already raised several hundred thousand euros in just a few hours.
The police have not given any details about the suspect, apart from his age and the fact that he is from Cardiff, Wales, fuelling the impatience and anger of a section of the population and the spread of false information about his background.
According to the BBC, his family comes from Rwanda, a sensitive issue as the last elections in July were marked by a rise of the anti-immigration hard right.
Heckled by some of the audience in Southport, Mr Starmer said he was “determined” to combat knife violence, a phenomenon that has been on the rise in the UK in recent years and often involves young people.