LONDON: Residents swept up broken bricks, shattered glass and burnt plastic on Wednesday (Jul 31) after far-right protesters clashed with police outside a mosque in a northwest England town where three girls were fatally stabbed.

A violent crowd of several hundred hurled bricks and bottles at riot police and set garbage bins and vehicles on fire in Southport, hours after a peaceful vigil for the girls, aged 6, 7 and 9, who were killed during a Taylor Swift-themed summer holiday dance and yoga class.

The ambulance service said it treated 39 police officers for injuries, 27 of whom were taken to hospitals.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the “thuggery” and said the protesters had “hijacked” the community’s grief.

The protesters, who police said were supporters of the far-right English Defence League, were fueled by anger and false online rumors about the 17-year-old suspect arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.

Police said a name circulating on social media was incorrect and the suspect was born in Britain, contrary to online claims he was an asylum seeker. The names of suspects under the age of 18 are usually not made public in Britain.

Patrick Hurley, the local lawmaker, said the violence by “beered-up thugs” was the result of “propaganda and lies” spread on social media.

“This misinformation doesn’t just exist on people’s internet browsers and on people’s phones. It has real-world impact,” he said.

The rampage in Southport, a seaside town near Liverpool, is the latest shocking attack in a country where a recent rise in knife crime has stoked anxieties and led to calls for the government to do more to clamp down on bladed weapons, which are by far the most commonly used instruments in United Kingdom homicides.

About two dozen children, mostly girls, were attending a Taylor Swift-themed summer vacation workshop on Monday when a teen armed with a knife entered the studio and began a vicious attack, police said.