U.K. stabbings: Violent protesters attack police as town mourns 3 dead girls

Hundreds of protesters threw bricks and set cars ablaze near the site of a horrific stabbing attack that claimed the lives of three girls just one day prior.

A group of violent protesters, believed to be supporters of the far-right English Defence League, threw bricks at a local mosque and clashed with police officers near the site of a horrific stabbing that claimed the lives of three young girls.

Hundreds of protesters threw bottles and garbage cans and set police vehicles and residents’ cars ablaze, Merseyside police said, leaving behind a scene of chaos where, earlier that day, mourners had laid flowers and stuffed animals in tribute to the victims of the tragic Southport stabbing attack.

Merseyside Police said that 49 of its officers were injured in the disturbance, with eight sustaining serious injuries including fractures, lacerations and a suspected concussion. Four other officers with Lancashire Police were also injured.

“It is sickening to see this happening within a community that has been devastated by the tragic loss of three young lives,” Assistant Chief Const. Alex Goss said.

The names of the three girls who died in Monday’s stabbing attack were released by police Tuesday evening. They are six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar.

Eight other children and two adults were injured in the attack, seven of whom remain in critical condition.

The victims had been participating in a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga class at a studio in Southport when an armed suspect entered and started stabbing people. A 17-year-old boy was apprehended by police shortly after the attack and is being questioned.

The 17-year-old suspect was born in Cardiff, Wales, but that hasn’t stopped conspiracy theories from circulating online that he is a migrant or asylum seeker.