Southport - What is the narrative?

"Citizen journalists, including drone footage, provided some of the best contextual coverage of the unfolding events"

People reveal their prejudices by reacting with such powerful certainty to partial information. Thus, presenting incidents through social and news media is possibly inflammatory when context, background, and all the inherent complications are missing.

Indeed, social media's fleeting representation of events often appears designed to elicit a baseless emotional reaction. 

The social unrest of 2019 gave weight to this view. There is ample evidence of edited clips or timelines deliberately switching to paint the police in a poor light. Western news reports inevitably opened with scenes of police firing tear gas while the hours of rioting and criminal damage that prompted this response are cut from the account. 

Of course, by making the story one of 'police brutality', a narrative of peaceful protest is supported. Therefore, any injuries to the police are excusable, and the wholesale destruction of public property is the legitimate cost of the fight. Such reporting inflames the situation.

All this came back into focus with recent events in the U.K. An incident at Manchester Airport on 23 July dropped into view with a clip showing a police officer stamping on the head of a man. The man had already been tasered and was flat on the ground. 

The following outrage drowned out any calls for 'wait and see'.

The man's lawyer immediately took to social media, claiming the incident was racially motivated and his client was very ill in the hospital with a brain injury. He repeated these false claims through the traditional media, who uncritically accepted them. 

Then, an extended clip from CCTV emerged. This coverage shows the man and his brother attacking the armed police officers. A WPC allegedly had her nose broken as the brothers landed blow after blow on the officers. The narrative suddenly reversed.

In no time, the family fired the lawyer as they went into damage control mode, expressing concern for the officers' well-being. Nonetheless, one officer was suspended. Then, the keyboard warriors declaring police racism fell silent as their case fell apart.

Then, this Monday, 29 July, a horrific attack by a young man left three young girls dead in Southport. The suspect is a British-born black 17-year-old, and all the deceased are white girls aged six, seven and nine. Eight other children suffered stab wounds in the attack, and five of them are in critical condition.

Two adults also remain in critical condition after being injured in the attack.
It is known that the suspect arrived at the venue by taxi armed with a knife, suggesting a degree of premeditation. 

Within hours of this horrible attack, rioting was underway in Southport. Video from the scene showed men attacking the police, who appeared to be defending a mosque. Fifty officers suffered injuries, including fractures, lacerations, a suspected broken nose and a concussion. One officer was knocked unconscious.
 
The scene was messy and confusing, with appalling optics. Then again, if you want picture-perfect anti-riot tactics, go to Hollywood. This is the real world. 
The police were not helped by their public order training and the political limits on the options available to disperse crowds.

Tactics using batons that demand close contact invite injuries to both the police and the rioters. Likewise, as we see in the video clips, coordinated action needs to be included. Once again, the U.K. police public order approach appears based on "winning by appearing to lose." 

As a consequence, many officers are injured. Is it too cynical to suggest that the intent is to score narrative points in the PR battle instead of restoring order? 

On this occasion, citizen journalists provided some of the best contextual coverage of the unfolding events, including drone footage. Without the edits and shaping commentary of the mainstream media, it is possible to watch and draw your conclusions.

It appears that the violence was prompted by social media speculation of a terrorist attack. The girls were attending a Taylor Swift-themed dance class; therefore, some saw echoes of the 2017 Manchester Arena attack when a radicalised Muslim man detonated a bomb, killing many, including a large group of young girls attending pop singer Ariana Grande's concert. 

The conspiracy crowd ran wild on social media. Yet it is unclear whether the culprit is associated with the attacked Mosque or his motivation. 

Currently, the dominant media narrative is that the rioters are outsiders and members of the nationalist English Defence League. If indeed true, they arrived quickly on the scene in substantial numbers. It would be interesting to know the addresses of any of the persons police arrested.

Also, immediately, commentators drew comparisons with a recent riot in Leeds that saw the police retreating in the face of a predominantly Asian crowd.

Accusations of two-tier policing sprang to the fore. Again, it is difficult and unwise to conclude anything without detailed knowledge.

What is apparent is that a deep undercurrent of disaffection is bubbling away in communities that have felt the impact of mass migration. Layered atop this is failing public services, a broken economy and a deep resentment amongst many indigenous people who feel disadvantaged. 

The new Prime Minister Starmer's appearance to pay his respects in a photo opportunity didn't go well at the scene. If he was hoping for an extended honeymoon, he's not getting his wish. 

The minutiae of these incidents, the socioeconomic antecedents, and the role of social media in shaping public perceptions will continue to be debated.

Meanwhile, what prompted this shocking attack on children remains unknown. But for sure, attacking the police and smashing up shops and a Mosque won’t get to the cause.