Over 1,000 Anti-Mass Migration Protestors and Social Media Posters Arrested.
Over 1,000 people have been arrested in connection with the disorder in Britain following the deadly mass stabbing of multiple young girls by a migration-background teenager in Southport, England. The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) boasts 1,024 people have been arrested and 575 people have been charged so far.
“We told you justice would be swift and we wouldn’t tolerate this type of criminality,” the council declared on Tuesday, adopting a bullying tone.
The youngest person currently known to have been arrested is an 11-year-old, detained in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Much older protestors have also been targeted, including David Spring, a 61-year-old imprisoned for 18 months for chanting, “Who the f**k is Allah?” and making “hostile gestures” towards riot police in London.
Police, prosecutors, and judges have warned they will go after people even if they have not directly participated in any violence.
“Anybody involving themselves in this type of behavior, this type of disorder, as an active participant or a curious observer can expect to be, save for the most exceptional circumstances, remanded into custody,” said a Northern Irish judge last week, jailing an 18-year-old with no criminal record who was merely on the “periphery” of a riotous demonstration.
SCOURING SOCIAL MEDIA.
Stephen Parkinson, the Director of Public Prosecutions of England and Wales (DPP) under Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, warns that “dedicated police officers” are “scouring social media” to arrest people alleged to have incited violence or “racial hatred” amid the protests, and that problematic posters overseas may be extradited.
One man aged 51 has been imprisoned for sharing “grossly offensive” memes featuring South Asian men. Prosecutors complained one meme included South Asian men holding knives near a crying white child outside the Palace of Westminster, where Parliament is based, with the caption ‘Coming to a town near you.’
At least one woman, aged 55, has been arrested merely for sharing “inaccurate information” about the Southport suspect.