Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[Richard Hakluyt]

There are far too many people speculating far too much already, so I'm concerned about anything that adds fuel to the fire.

This brings back memories of the Dunblane massacre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunblane_massacre; back then social media was barely a thing so the rippling consequences were generally more positive than today.

[Josquius]

It certainly seems a fucked up situation.
The killing itself is horrid. But then it seems a nonsense stated as fact started on foreign social media accounts that the killer was a Muslim immigrant known to MI5.

This was then shared by the regular rogues gallery of shit heads and  prompted scum from across the country to flood in for a scrap.

I've seen an account  apparently from a local about how he and his neighbours spent hours in their garden trying to fight off the rioters, definite out of towners, as they tried to dismantle their walls to throw at the police.
They then mysteriously dispersed by 11pm and the last trains out of town.

[Sheilbh]

Similar message from the local imam - especially as local community's turned out to help clean up around the mosque but also leaving food, drinks etc.

My aunty lives in Southport and it's not an area I would ever have predicted having a riot.

[Sheilbh]

There are far too many people speculating far too much already, so I'm concerned about anything that adds fuel to the fire.

This brings back memories of the Dunblane massacre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunblane_massacre; back then social media was barely a thing so the rippling consequences were generally more positive than today.

Yeah - I have incredibly strong memories of Dunblane. I was a kid in a small, rural, Scottish primary school with three teacher across all the kids - and I really clearly remember our teacher coming into class after break just in tears after hearing the news.

Just saw the story that the dance teacher has woken up after the last couple of days in intensive care and in and out of surgery - but saw that her wounds were to the back, neck and shoulders because she was trying to shield kids from the attacker. It's heartbreaking.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Similar message from the local imam - especially as local community's turned out to help clean up around the mosque but also leaving food, drinks etc.

My aunty lives in Southport and it's not an area I would ever have predicted having a riot.

Yeah, it is a place that we visit every few months for a daytrip and has the sea, beach, lake/lagoon etc etc

It is very much much the sort of place where one's aunty lives and is low-key, pleasant and very respectable 

A few local scallies may have joined in but there must have been many outsiders to get that riot started.

[Gups]

They were from Leeds weren't they? I hope the organisers get prosecuted.

[Sheilbh]

Yeah, it is a place that we visit every few months for a daytrip and has the sea, beach, lake/lagoon etc etc

It is very much much the sort of place where one's aunty lives and is low-key, pleasant and very respectable 

Yes it is very much aunt territory

And of course home for exiled French politicians/relatives of deposed emperors, so also in many ways the main inspiration for modern day Paris

[PJL]

Been hearing that the rumours re the suspect may have been started via Russian channels.

[Sheilbh]

17 year old boy has been charged - but given age still lots of reporting restrictions at this stage.

[HVC]

Been hearing that the rumours re the suspect may have been started via Russian channels.

Russia can't always be the boogie man, sometimes people just don't like muslims.

[Gups]

Been hearing that the rumours re the suspect may have been started via Russian channels.

Channel 4 news did some sort of analysis combining "Muslim" and "Southport"  that said 50% of tweets originated in the States and 30% from UK. In any event, the thugs who rooted were from the Uk

[Josquius]

17 year old boy has been charged - but given age still lots of reporting restrictions at this stage.

The cops say further he's  from Cardiff and the son of Rwandan immigrants.
Zero known links to Islam.
I guess they'll twist this to a "but see he's still an immigrant."or some nonsense.

And if the Southport nonsense wasn't bad enough, we've got some copycat riots in Hartlepool and London

I can see a black mirror plot line in this. You don't even need the initial killing. Just say there's been one and a muslim did it then off go the knuckle draggers.

[Tamas]

I read that Rwanda has a smaller percentage of Muslims than the UK. Which just puts an extra twist on what was already a disgusting racist riot.

[Sheilbh]

I think it is worth calling out specifically that it was an Islamophobic riot given how much the far-right like to deny that Islamophobia is a thing in any way comparable with racism. It is. We saw that.

Edit: Also worth contrasting that behaviour with this thread from the Guardian reporter in Southport on the community response the day afterwards:
https://x.com/HannahAlOthman/status/1819095010929004597

For the non-Twitter users:
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1819095010929004597.html

[HVC]

The break layers face cross tattoo gives a nice juxtaposition to the situation lol