Protests continue in UK over death of three girls in knife attack
Protesters set fire to a police station in the city of Sunderland after the identity of the suspect in the attacks was made public.
Police secure the street that was the site of a mass stabbing in Southport.
Protests continue in the United Kingdom after the country was shocked by the killing of three girls in a knife attack carried out by a 17-year-old in Southport, Merseyside.
Since the knife attack spread in the media last Monday, the country has been gripped by a wave of protests expressing anger at the government. Most of these demonstrations are related to conservative movements calling for greater control of immigration.
This is because the Southport attacker was initially thought to be a migrant of Muslim faith, which led to attacks on a local mosque. In an attempt to quell anger sparked by misinformation, a British court decided to reveal the identity of the 17-year-old attacker, a young man born in Cardiff, Wales, to Rwandan immigrants.
It did little good. Incidents have been reported in several U.K. cities since Tuesday. The latest major ones were in the northern city of Sunderland, in England. According to images posted on social media and BBC reports, protesters clashed Friday afternoon with local police. Some private vehicles were also attacked and overturned, and a Sunderland police station was set on fire.
According to The Independent, 10 people have been arrested following the Sunderland riots for violent disorder and burglary offenses. Three local police officers have been taken to hospital following clashes with protesters.
The suspect is a young man of Rwandan origin
Rudakubana was arrested at the scene of the crime by police officers who responded to emergency calls at the dance workshop. According to the BBC, the young man was born in Cardiff, Wales. His parents moved to the Southport area in 2013.
When he was younger, in 2018, Rudakubana appeared in a BBC fundraising commercial. In it, the young man appears in costume as the TV character Doctor Who.
According to the BBC, the suspect was diagnosed with autism and reportedly did not want to leave the house or communicate with his family. Authorities have not yet clarified what prompted the knife attack.
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