ANGRY CLASHES Thugs set fire to cop cars & hurl rocks in Hartlepool & 100 arrested over Downing Street clashes after Southport horror
RIOTERS hurled bricks at cops and set a police car on fire in Hartlepool after violent clashes in Downing Street saw one hundred people arrested.
Footage showed multiple stand-offs between officers and hundreds of thugs in Hartlepool just hours after riots were sparked in Southport over the horror stabbings
Large crowds were seen being driven back by police decked out in riot gear and carrying shields in Hartlepool's centre.
They faced a bombardment of projectiles as bricks and bottles flew towards them.
The chaotic scenes came 24 hours after rioters clashed with cops outside a mosque in Southport near the scene of the horror stabbing that left three kids dead.
In Hartlepool, one police vehicle was left a charred wreck after being set ablaze with a loud bang heard as the fuel tank went up in flames.Cleveland Police confirmed that four people had been arrested for various offences including public order and affray.
Several officers suffered injuries after missiles were launched by yobs amid the chaos.
Witnesses say a metal beam was also launched at officers during the unrest while yobs in balaclavas were said to have hit the police with huge wooden bats.
And locals claimed some demonstrators were even throwing themselves against officers.Chief Superintendent David Sutherland said on Wednesday night: “We currently have a high policing presence while officers respond to disorder that is taking place in Hartlepool following a protest that began this evening.
“At this stage we believe the protest is in connection with the incident in Southport earlier this week.
“Our officers are facing missiles, glass bottles and eggs being thrown at them and have made arrests as they remain in the area to protect the safety of those living in the community.
“I want to urge members of the public to stay away from the area.”
The Prime Minister will convene senior policing leaders in Downing Street today to offer them the government’s full backing following multiple high-profile incidents of extreme violence and public disorder on our streets.
It comes after riots outside Downing Street last night saw flares and bricks hurled near the gates of the Prime Minister's residence.
One hundred people were arrested with a number of protesters detained as police drove them into Trafalgar Square.
Several men were wrestled to the floor and handcuffed as cops managed to slowly get a handle on the situation.
Tuesday's riots in Southport saw protesters try and attack a mosque with police vehicles set ablaze.
Cops suffered serious injuries when bricks, stones and bottles were thrown in chaotic scenes.
Merseyside Police said more than 50 officers were injured amid the disorder.
The rioting followed a frenzied stabbing attack in Southport on Monday at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club.
The attack saw Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, fatally stabbed.
Speculation about the alleged attacker's identity circulated online, seeing the tension that already existed after Monday's horrific attack explode into riots.
Despite social media claims, cops stressed that the suspect was born in Cardiff.
A 17-year-old boy has since been charged in connection with the murder of the three girls after they were stabbed to death.
The mum of Elsie Stancombe - one of three victims so far from the attack - had condemned the violence and urged protesters to stop.In a message widely shared online, Jenni Stancombe said: "This is the only thing that I will write, but please stop the violence in Southport tonight.
"The police have been nothing but heroic these last 24 hours and they and we don't need this."
'Social media to blame for fake news'
By Imran Ahmed
After we heard the first shocking reports that children had been stabbed in Southport, we went to social media to try and find out the truth – who did this and why?
But the problem with our reliance on social media as a source of information is that all platforms are designed in ways that show us lies first and the truth last.
Journalists working for a newspaper or broadcaster try to tell us what they can prove, which can be unclear in the immediate wake of a tragedy.
Social media platforms, instead, look at how much engagement their posts get.
That’s because they don’t actually care about the value to society of that information, rather the value to them.
Let’s be clear, social media companies are to blame. They let people break their rules with impunity.
The reason they do this is simple: hate and lies are big business for social media.
That’s how the truth loses, and the lies of extremists and weirdos enter the mainstream.
Social media companies pretend this is complicated, but the basic solutions are simple.
First, we need to force these companies to come clean on how their algorithms boost dangerous lies.
Second, we need to hold them accountable with fines and penalties.
American social media giants are to blame for this chaos. It's them, not the people of Southport, who should be paying for the cleanup and coppers’ medical bills.
Before anyone could report the truth in Stockport, selfish and cynical losers were using social media to exploit this tragedy and push hateful lies.
With zero evidence, they claimed that Muslims were behind the attack and that the police were hiding the truth.
And they know that the more outrageous the lie, the more people will see it.
The consequences were plain to see, as gangs of thugs descended on Southport, shamefully using the deaths of three young girls to whip up hate and attack the police.
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