UK riots plunge country into worst unrest in years, prime minister vows to apply 'full force of law'

Days of rioting across the United Kingdom over the stabbing deaths of three young girls last week has plunged the country into the worst unrest it has seen in years.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday said that a “standing army” of specialist police would be set up to deal with rioting and that the justice system would be ramped up to deal with hundreds of arrests after violent disorder rocked cities across the nation over the past week.

“Whatever the apparent motivation, this is not protest, it is pure violence and we will not tolerate attacks on mosques or our Muslim communities,” Starmer said on Monday. “The full force of law will be visited on all those who are identified as having taken part.”

Riots and protests involving hundreds of people have created chaos in towns and cities across the country.

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Dozens of police officers have been hospitalized for injuries in the past six days after being struck with bricks, bottles, chairs and large wooden posts.

On Sunday, angry mobs attacked two hotels used to house asylum seekers, breaking windows and lighting fires before police dispersed the crowds and residents were evacuated.

Dozens of officers were hospitalized with injuries after rioters threw objects such as bricks, bottles and wooden posts. (Danny Lawson/PA via AP)

Starmer blamed the violence on misinformation spread on social media that sparked outrage over a stabbing that left three young girls dead and others wounded at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event in the town of Southport.

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The false social media posts claimed that the suspected attacker was a radical Islamist who had recently arrived in Britain, Reuters reported. Police, however, identified the attacker as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, who was born in Wales to Rwandan parents, and said authorities are not treating the incident as terror-related.

Police officers block protesters during an anti-immigration demonstration outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, England, on Sunday. (Danny Lawson/PA via AP)

Suspects under 18 are typically not named in the U.K., but the judge in the case ordered the suspect to be identified to stop the spread of misinformation. The teen has been charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder.

A spokesperson for Starmer said on Monday that social media companies have not done enough to prevent the spread of misinformation, and that some of that false and misleading information has come from foreign states.

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“The disinformation that we’ve seen online attracts amplification from known bot activity, which, as I say, can be linked to state-backed activity,” the spokesperson said.

Fox News’ Bradford Betz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.