Southport stabbing falsehoods spread on social media
Soofia Tariq
July 31, 2024
WHAT WAS CLAIMED
A 17-year-old alleged to have murdered children at a UK dance class was a Muslim asylum seeker who arrived in the country by boat last year.
OUR VERDICT
False. He was born in the UK. No details about his religion have been revealed.
AAP FACTCHECK – A teenager alleged to have murdered children at a dance workshop in the UK was a Muslim asylum seeker who arrived in the country by boat last year, social media posts have been claiming.
This is false. Police confirmed the 17-year-old suspect was born in Wales. At the time of writing, no details about his religion have been revealed.
Three children were killed and several others injured on Monday July 29 when a teenager allegedly carried out a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club dance class in Southport, north of Liverpool.
A youth was arrested by Merseyside Police, with the force saying the incident was not being treated as terror-related.
Due to his age, the suspect has not been named, leading to speculation about his background on social media.
Following the spread of the false claims, there was widespread disorder and violence in Southport on Tuesday evening (July 30) UK time, centred around a local mosque.
Dozens of officers were injured with authorities saying the far-right English Defence League protest group was responsible.
The violence appears to have been fuelled by claims about the suspect’s religion and asylum status.
One Facebook user posted: “[He] was on the MI6 watch list and known to Liverpool mental health services. He was an asylum seeker who arrived in the UK by boat last year.”
Another wrote: “He was an asylum seeker who came to UK by boat last year…You [sic] children are their targets.”
Many other social media users named the suspect as “Ali-Al-Shakati”. Police have said the name is incorrect.
Several social media users with large followings also made similar claims, including internet personality Andrew Tate who said of the suspect: “An illegal migrant arrived on a boat one month ago.”
Small boat migrant crossings have been a major political issue in the UK in recent years and it was a prominent issue during the recent general election.
AAP FactCheck has traced early claims about the suspect’s identity to several social media users with modest follower numbers.
The false details then appear to have been picked up and published by a site called Channel3 Now.
Little is known about the organisation, which claims to be a US-based news site. However, its Facebook page displays that it is partly managed from Pakistan, while its YouTube channel contains dozens of Russian-language videos.
It published the claims in an X post as well as a linked article illustrated with an image that seems to have been taken from another X user’s post about a separate stabbing in London’s Mile End.
The Channel3 post’s caption read: “Merseyside Police has confirmed an asylum seeker 17-year-old Ali-Al Shakati has been arrested” while the article reported that he “came to UK by boat last year”.
The incorrect information was also published by Russian state-controlled media.
As well as stating the suspect’s name is not Ali-Al Shakati, police have confirmed he was born in Cardiff, Wales.
Police said he had been living in the village of Banks in Lancashire, just a few kilometres from the location of the attack.
The BBC has reported that the family moved to the area from Wales in 2013 and that his parents are originally from Rwanda.
At the time of writing, there has been no official information regarding whether the suspect follows or is associated with any religion. (AAP)
