Alleged Southport murderer named

A British court has named the 17-year-old suspect accused of stabbing three children to death in the town of Southport as Axel Rudakubana. The murders have triggered violent riots across England.

Rudakubana was charged on Wednesday with the murders of nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar, six-year-old Bebe King, and seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, whom he allegedly stabbed at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on Monday. Rudakubana is also accused of stabbing eight other children and two adults.

While British law normally grants anonymity to suspects under the age of eighteen, Judge Andrew Menary of Liverpool Magistrates Court ruled on Thursday that Rudakubana’s name could be released, as he is due to turn 18 next week.

Menary added that not naming Rudakubana would allow “others who are up to mischief to continue to spread disinformation in a vacuum.”

Rumors spread online after the murders falsely suggested that a Muslim migrant was responsible. According to British media reports, Rudakubana was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents.

The Southport murders set off a wave of public anger, with protests held in London, Hartlepool, and Manchester on Wednesday evening. Protesters in London and Hartlepool were seen pelting police officers with beer cans, bottles, and other debris, and London’s Metropolitan Police said that more than 100 people were arrested in the capital. 

In Southport, hundreds of protesters rioted outside a mosque on Tuesday, the affray fueled by rumors that a Muslim man had been arrested with a knife near the gathering. Bricks and stones were hurled at the mosque, and more than 50 police officers were injured as they attempted to break up the riot.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer addressed the nation on Thursday after a meeting with police chiefs. Starmer focused much of his speech on the protests and riots rather than the stabbings, with the PM blaming the unrest on “far-right hatred” and vowing to give police forces the “national capability” to prevent similar riots in future. 

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