False asylum claims trigger nationwide riots in the UK
Bernadette Spofforth, a wealthy mother of three, found herself at the centre of a controversy. Her false accusations spread on social media, inciting riots across the United Kingdom. Spofforth falsely claimed that a suspect in the Southport attack was an asylum seeker who arrived in the United Kingdom last year.
It all started when Spofforth posted on X stating that the suspect in the murders of three girls in Southport was named Ali Al-Shakati and was an asylum seeker. In the post, she warned, "If this is true, then all hell is about to break loose." However, it quickly turned out that her allegations were completely baseless.
The real suspect turned out to be 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana, a Cardiff-born son of Rwandans who legally arrived in the United Kingdom in 2002.
Russian trolls and far-right agitators such as Tommy Robinson and Andrew Tate picked up the unconfirmed accusations spread by Spofforth. It was these claims that led to riots across the United Kingdom.
Spofforth, who lives in a luxurious estate in Cheshire, stated that she did not intend to spark riots in the United Kingdom. She added that she received this information from someone in Southport. However, she did not provide any evidence to support her claims.
"My life has been destroyed"
Bernadette Spofforth is known for her controversial views, especially on lockdowns and vaccinations. Before deleting her Twitter account, she had tens of thousands of followers.
It was just a mistake. I did a really stupid stupid thing, I copied and pasted it from what I saw, and I added the line 'if this is true.' I think it is very easy for a situation which is very emotional and very heightened, so you can end up believing what you're seeing. (...) People should be very careful about putting what they think is true without doing the research - Spofforth stated in an interview with "The Times".
Riots and police actions
The riots that erupted after the spread of false information led to the largest police mobilisation in the history of the United Kingdom. More than 400 people have already been arrested. Suspects have been charged with various offences, including public disorder and assault. The United Kingdom's top prosecutor suggested that riot participants could face terrorism charges.
Moreover, police conducted raids on the homes of the most violent riot participants.
Bernadette Spofforth's story is an example of how irresponsible posting of unchecked information on social media can lead to serious consequences.
