The colour of hatred: The Southport Stabbing
On August 7th, 2024, riots erupted in various local towns and cities in England. These attacks, which are still frequently happening, are noted to be derived from the far-right, and aim to attack hotels housing asylum seekers, as well as mosques.
The riots began in response to a recent mass attack, which occurred in a quiet, sea-side town, called Southport in Northern England on the 29th of July. The victims, which were revealed to be 11 young girls, ranging from ages 6 to 9, and 2 adults were noted to be taking part in a Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance event, before a 17-year-old boy, from a village nearby unleashed a knife attack killing 3 children, who were identified as Bebe King (6-years-old), Elsie Dot Stancombe (7-years-old), and Alice da Silva Aguiar (9-years-old).
Later that same day, police arrested a 17-year-old boy on suspicion of the attack. As a result, many speculations online involving the ethnicity and religious beliefs of the assailant spread across many online platforms, such as X (formerly known as Twitter). A popular rumour was that the boy was a Muslim asylum seeker, who arrived on a boat in 2023. Although police warned the general public about the dangers of speculating who this assailant is online, a supposedly peaceful vigil for the victims in Southport on July 30th turned into a violent attack on a local mosque in the area.
Since the attack a chain of riots has echoed across neighbouring boroughs and towns as dates of potential planned far-right protests were leaked online by a variety of sources. During these violent altercations, we see these attackers target POC’s, migrants, and Muslims, with acts of physical violence ranging from throwing bricks to looting and vandalising locally owned Asian businesses. Predominantly businesses owned by South Asians.
Among these riots, we see the faces of the assailants. Mothers carrying their babies in pushchairs; teenagers in tracksuits, and elderly people with their walkers, which only acts as a mirror to reflect the underlying racism that is still prevalent to the country, despite acknowledging its underlying shamelessness of relying on immigrants to create the country as we know it today.
