(NEW YORK) — A violent protest broke out in the United Kingdom on Tuesday in the wake of a vigil for the victims of a deadly stabbing spree, resulting in nearly two dozen officers injured and cars set on fire, police said.
Twenty-two officers were injured, eight seriously, following “violent disorder” in Southport, a seaside town about 20 miles north of Liverpool, according to Merseyside police.
The protest broke out Tuesday evening after a large group of people started throwing bricks at a mosque in Southport, police said. The protesters are believed to be supporters of the far-right English Defence League, police said.
Cars were set on fire and a local convenience store was also damaged, police said.
The protest followed a peaceful vigil for the victims of a deadly stabbing that occurred a day prior in the town.
Three children were killed and nine others injured in the stabbing incident, police said. Two adults were also injured while trying to protect the children, police said.
Merseyside police said the children were attending a Taylor Swift-themed event at a dance school at the time.
A 17-year-old boy from Banks, a coastal village in Lancashire, just outside Southport, was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, police said. The suspect, whose name was not released, was born in Cardiff, Wales, police said.
The motive remains unclear, police said.
Tuesday’s protests were apparently fueled by “speculation” over the unidentified suspect, Merseyside Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss said.
“There has been much speculation and hypothesis around the status of a 17-year-old male who is currently in police custody and some individuals are using this to bring violence and disorder to our streets,” Goss said in a statement. “We have already said that the person arrested was born in the UK and speculation helps nobody at this time.”
Goss said protesters used bricks to attack officers and damaged cars parked in the mosque parking lot. Officers sustained injuries including fractures, cuts, head injuries and a concussion, police said.
“This is no way to treat a community, least of all a community that is still reeling from the events of Monday,” Goss said.
U.K. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper also decried the violence, calling the attacks on police and the mosque “appalling.”
“The community of Southport are reeling from a horrifying ordeal and families are grieving,” Cooper said in a statement. “This violent thuggery, which has overshadowed a peaceful vigil for three little girls, is an insult to the community and to all those who need the space to process what has happened and to heal.”
Earlier Tuesday, hundreds of people attended a vigil for the stabbing victims in the center of Southport.
Three girls — 6-year-old Bebe King, 7-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and 9-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar — were killed in the stabbing.
Five children and two adults injured in the stabbing remained in critical condition on Tuesday, police said.
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