More than 1,000 people arrested after UK protests, police say

British authorities have arrested more than 1,000 people after days of unrest involving violence, arson and looting, as well as attacks on Muslims and immigrants, a national police body said on Tuesday (13).

The riots, which followed the murders of three girls in the northern English town of Southport, began after the July 29 attack was wrongly blamed on an Islamic immigrant based on online misinformation.

Violence has erupted in towns across England and Northern Ireland, but there has been less unrest since last week after efforts to identify those involved stepped up.

Many people were quickly arrested, with some receiving long sentences.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council said in its latest update that 1,024 had been arrested and 575 charged across the UK.

Those arrested include a 69-year-old man accused of vandalism in Liverpool and an 11-year-old boy in Belfast.

A 13-year-old girl pleaded guilty to violent disorder at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court, prosecutors said, having been seen on July 31 punching and kicking the entrance to a hotel for asylum seekers.

“This alarming incident must have caused genuine fear among the people who were being targeted by these thugs – and it is particularly distressing to learn that such a young girl took part in this violent disorder,” said prosecutor Thomas Power.

The last time the UK saw widespread rioting was in 2011, when thousands of people took to the streets after police shot dead a black man in London.

The swift and tough legal action was seen as helping to quell unrest in 2011, when around 4,000 people were arrested over several weeks.

Source: CNN Brasil

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