Police Ignored Far Right Threats Before England’s Summer Riots
A police chief reveals missed warnings about far-right dangers leading to riots in England, highlighting slow responses and misinformation issues.
England, Southport, Far Right, Riots, Police, Misinformation
Southport: So, it turns out the police really dropped the ball when it came to the far-right threats before those summer riots in England. A police chief, Andy Cooke, said they missed some pretty big clues.
He mentioned that when the chaos kicked off, the police were way too slow to react. Because of that, things got a lot worse than they could have been. Some officers even had to take themselves to the hospital after getting hurt.
In a report, it was pointed out that the police were not prepared for the violence. They didn’t learn from the riots back in 2011, which is a bit concerning.
The trouble started in late July after three schoolgirls were killed, and false claims about the suspect spread like wildfire online. Cooke said the police really need to step up their game when it comes to tackling misinformation, especially from politicians like Nigel Farage.
Cooke noted that there were gaps in how the police handled intelligence, especially with social media. They just didn’t get how misinformation was fueling the chaos.
He said they should have acted faster to counter the false narratives. The report also suggested having a national coordinator to manage police resources better during emergencies.
Interestingly, before the riots, police thought the far-right threat was “minimal.” They were more worried about protests related to Gaza and environmental issues instead.
The report made it clear that the police should have seen the risks of disorder coming. There had been a lot of far-right activity leading up to the riots, including attacks on asylum-seeker hostels.
Just days before the riots, a huge rally in London drew 100,000 people, featuring Tommy Robinson. The report pointed out that various factors, including nationalist sentiment and misinformation, played a role in the unrest.
Cooke warned that we might see more disorder in the future. He said the police need to be better prepared and mobilize quickly when things start to heat up.