Pickthall condemns unreservedly the appalling, misinformation-driven attack on a Southport mosque on Tuesday 30 July, and is horrified by the appalling knife attack on Monday 29 July that killed three innocent children.
Sadly, at a time when thoughts and prayers should have been with the victims of Monday’s attack and their families, several social media influencers spread unsubstantiated rumours about the perpetrator’s background, in posts which gained nearly thirty million views.
Driven by this speculation, on Tuesday evening a mob of thugs and hooligans attacked a mosque in Southport, burned a police vehicle, and injured fifty police officers who were bravely defending the building.
The law does not permit the police to reveal the identities of suspects arrested who are under 18 years of age. The background and motives of the suspect, whatever they may be, are of absolutely no relevance to the morally abhorrent nature of Monday’s crime. And equally, nothing can excuse the lawless mob who attacked a house of worship and police officers trying to protect it.
There is room for sober, reasoned debate about immigration and community integration, but spreading rumours about the motives of criminals without evidence is either grossly irresponsible or an utterly malevolent attempt to stir up violence. The behaviour of the influencers who insinuated that immigration was to blame for Monday’s crime, or that the attacker had a religious or ideological motive, is disgraceful. Sir Keir Starmer is right that rioters should be punished with the full force of the law.
Pickthall supports the government’s commitment to the rule of law, and our thoughts and sympathies are with the families of the murdered children, the communities scarred by Tuesday’s vicious rioting, the police who were injured in the line of duty, and all the people of Southport at this difficult and tragic time.
