Community News
The power of misinformation: Unraveling the UK riots
BY KAHA GEDI
The UK riots were violent events that spread across several cities, so bad that it had “Crossed the threshold of terrorism.” These riots not only demonstrated how quickly misinformation can lead to chaos, but also exposed deeper societal problems, such as: Islamophobia, hatred towards immigrants, and a lack of understanding. As false information circulated, it fueled increased hostility towards Muslim and immigrant communities, worsening the situation. This report will examine the causes of the riots, detail what occurred during them, and explore the lessons learned, particularly how misinformation and prejudice can damage society.
The murder of three young girls in Southport, by a 17-year-old
This all started with the violent murder of three young girls in a Taylor Swift-themed dance class. It was reported that a 17-year-old, who now goes by the name of Axel Rudakubana stabbed: Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, with a kitchen knife after entering the class on Hart Street in Southport, Merseyside around 11:50 a.m. local time on Monday, July 29th, 2024. Eight other children had knife wounds, with five of them left in a critical condition, as well as two adults.
Axel Rudakubana is a 17-year-old who was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents and has been charged with 10 counts of attempted murder, and possession of a bladed article (knife). The reason why I’m mentioning his background is that there were rumours of a Muslim Immigrant who committed this horrible crime when in reality it was Axel.
Fake news channel reports a Muslim immigrant killed them
The fake website Channel3Now amplified one of the first accounts on X (or Twitter) called “Artemisfornow” that the murder suspect went by the name of Ali Al-Shakati. This person claimed that he was an asylum seeker who came to the UK by boat last year and that he was on the M16 watchlist, which means he could be a possible terrorist. However, the police stated that this was false, and that this was not the suspect they had in custody.
Channel3Now has only made things worse by reporting the same misinformation on their website, which was taken down and apologized for on July 31st, 2024. Despite being proven wrong, the riots still took place in full force, to stand against the Muslim and immigrant communities. This shows how much damage misinformation can cause, and that it’s only proven wrong when it’s too late.
Times Radio has said on Facebook that this rumour was false, because the alleged Ali Al-Shakati (stabber), is 17 years old, and his name could not be disclosed because he’s a minor. Also, what was suspicious about Channel3Now was that underneath every article the author just stated their organization’s name, and that caused concern, because if they were a real news outlet they would have actual names of authors working for them.
Before the Ali Al-Shakati rumours ended, there were two main influencers responsible for riling up the people to take action, and they were none other than Tommy Robinson and Andrew Tate.
The role of Tommy Robinson, and Andrew Tate
Tommy Robinson or Stephen Yaxley Lennon an anti-Islam campaigner and convicted criminal (for causing a breach of peace) is one of the UK’s biggest Far Right activists who has peddled the hate and misinformation spread on social media. They have been heard to say things like “We have to stop radical Muslims, we have to stop Islam,” and have gained quite a bit of followers worldwide.
According to CBC, Thomas Daigle explains that “Tommy Robinson has been laying the groundwork for anger, especially towards Muslims and immigrants for his followers for years now, and all that was needed was a spark, and sadly that came last week with the mass stabbing and the deaths of three young children in Southport, England.”
He continues saying, “And what did Tommy Robinson say about all this, unapologetically, ‘don’t say I didn’t warn you.’” Where was Tommy when all of these riots were happening, well, “He was thousands of kilometers away posting about these riots from the beach soaking up the sun in Greece and Cyprus.”
Andrew Tate contributed to starting this riot by stating, “So an undocumented migrant decided to go to a Taylor Swift dance class today, and stab six little girls. I don’t see any protests in the UK. I don’t see anybody complaining. Nobody’s outside of the school, no one is outside of the police station. I don’t know what it’s gonna take for Western civilization to wake the f*** up. Your enemies are not far away, it’s domestic, they’ve been invited in by treasonist politicians.”
The riots – Wednesday, July 31st
This misinformation caused unrest on the streets of Downing Street. According to Channel 4 News, before 7:00 PM the protesters stayed in an agreed perimeter, however after they started to break out of that and started throwing flares and dispersing out to the Churchill Statue nearby. They began throwing railings and drinks toward the officers, and this resulted in more than one hundred people being arrested for many offences that evening such as: violent disorder, assaulting officers, possessing class-A drugs, and carrying knives and other weapons.
In Aldershot, a mob protest happened outside a hotel housing asylum seeker causing criminal damage, racist abuse, and intimidation. In Manchester, outside another hotel housing asylum seekers people threw bricks and bottles at police. In Hartlepool, many were arrested after officers were attacked, a police van was set on fire, and local shops were vandalized.
On Friday, August 2nd, 2024, crowds gathered in Sunderland, bricks were thrown at police outside protecting a mosque, and cars and buildings were burned. Throughout the weekend, August 3rd and 4th, 2024 in: Bristol, Belfast, Hull, Blackpool, Newcastle, Leeds, Stoke-On-Trent, Manchester, Liverpool and many other places hundreds of people were pushed back by police from the mosques they were attacking, so they directed their fury to libraries: lighting fireworks, breaking windows, ransacking the place, throwing furniture at police, petrol bombs were thrown, vehicles attacked and a hotel in Rotherham set on fire.
BBC reported protesters saying “Allah Hu Akbar.”
The BBC reported that the counter-protesters, like those who are protecting their mosques are chanting “Allah Hu Akbar,” which the West views as a war cry, someone inciting violence, and they have absolutely no idea what it means. In reality, all that means is “God is the greatest.” On the contrary, the protesters are chanting despicable racist chants like “Allah, Allah, who the f*** is Allah,” and things like “Pakis Out.” The contrast in chants is strikingly clear, and a news outlet like the BBC should not be showing only one side of the chants.
The aftermath
These rioters have caused so much damage to their cities. People are trying to rebuild the damage done to mosques and other shops that were targeted. Channel 4 News interviewed someone who lives in the hotels that had been attacked, and they stated that “There is no humanity, they are like zombies, they burn, they want to kill, they make like that (draw a straight line over their neck gesturing I’m gonna kill you), they say we are going to catch you and if we don’t catch you today we will catch you tomorrow, and if we don’t catch you tomorrow we will catch you after one week. We are thinking that we are gonna die, and we need them to leave us alone.”
Next, they interviewed some locals nearby who said, “I could not believe this morning that this is where I’m from, and I was crying my eyes out yesterday watching it and thinking about the people inside, like that is not a way to treat a human.”
Another witness noted, “It makes me sad to be English really, because this is the kind of people that people all over the world are going to see of us.”
The UK riots, triggered by false information and deep-seated biases, show how dangerous misinformation can be. The violence, which followed a tragic stabbing incident, was fueled by incorrect reports and prejudice against Muslim and immigrant communities.
The actions of extremists do not represent the views of everyone in the UK. Many people in the country are actively working to combat hate and support their communities. Figures like Tommy Robinson and his followers need to understand that not all Muslims are extremists, and not all immigrants are illegal. Everyone, regardless of their background, has the right to live peacefully and be treated with respect.
As the affected communities work to recover, it’s important to learn from these events. We must verify information before sharing it, show empathy to all individuals, and hold media and influencers accountable for accurate reporting. Only by addressing these issues can we hope to prevent similar tragedies in the future and build a more understanding society.