By Zuhal Demirci
LONDON (AA) - Police in the UK have arrested three individuals in connection with violent and hateful social media posts in the wake of far-right violence across the country.
Footage shared online showed the arrest of one of the individuals at their home for making offensive comments on Facebook.
British police officers arrived at the residence and arrested the person under the Communications Act for the improper use of an electronic communication network, it showed.
Authorities can be heard in the video informing the individual that they were being taken to the police station for questioning due to complaints accusing them of offensive comments on social media.
Another of the three people, 28-year-old Jordan Parlour, was charged with inciting racial hatred online, linked to violent riots that erupted in the UK last week.
Parlour, who lives in the Leeds area, is the first person to be prosecuted for sharing criminal content connected to the violence. He is expected to appear in court on Wednesday to face the charges.
In a separate case, Cheshire Police said they received a complaint on Tuesday about a hateful message posted on a community group in the Kidsgrove area. Following an investigation, officers arrested a 53-year-old woman from Alsager parish in connection with the incident.
The arrests come in the wake of riots fueled by false claims spread online that the suspect arrested for the fatal stabbing of three children in Southport was a Muslim asylum seeker.
Authorities have identified the attacker as Axel Rudakubana, a 17-year-old teenager born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents, but this has done little to deter far-right mobs.
The Crown Prosecution Service said its teams continue to work around the clock, along with the police, to charge people as quickly as possible and ensure justice is served. It said at least 120 people were charged to date.
In the clashes that ensued between far-right groups and police in Southport, a far-right mob threw stones at the Southport Islamic Society Mosque, resulting in multiple injuries among police officers. Rioters also set fire to a police van.
In the violence, 53 police officers and three police dogs were injured in Southport, while five people were arrested.
The violence spread to Sunderland on Aug. 2, where a mob gathered outside the Masjid-e Anwaar-e Madinah Mosque and clashed with police. The crowd set a local police station ablaze and attempted to burn down other public buildings as well. Three officers were injured and 10 people were arrested for far-right activities.
On the same day, far-right groups gathered in city squares and outside mosques in Hartlepool, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Dover.
About 20 towns and cities across England had been the scene of far-right violence by Aug. 3, including Bristol, Hull, Blackpool, Stoke-on-Trent, and Blackburn, along with four locations in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They attacked immigrant-owned businesses, mosques, police vehicles, and riot police, with about 92 arrested.
Far-right mobs continued to target immigrants and Muslims in Weymouth, Middlesbrough, and Rotherham on Aug. 4. In Rotherham, they gathered in front of a hotel housing irregular migrants and asylum seekers, throwing stones, chairs, and other objects at the building.
In several towns, far-right groups clashed with counter-protesters and people trying to protect religious and commercial establishments.
False reports that two individuals in far-right groups had been stabbed in Hull and Stoke-on-Trent intensified the violence, despite police later confirming that they were untrue. Police in Blackpool and Manchester called for an end to the demonstrations and banned further gatherings.