The perpetrator has been identified as a 17-year-old boy from Banks, a coastal village just outside Southport. He has no known links to Islam and was born in Cardiff, Wales, to parents from Rwanda.
The far-right pounced to foment riots that have since led to over 400 arrests, scores of injured police officers and damage to cars, homes and shops in dozens of towns and cities across England and Northern Ireland, according to the BBC.
At least 30 additional gatherings are believed to be planned for Wednesday.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged that anyone taking part in the unrest will “feel the full force of the law”. He has described the riots as “organised, violent thuggery” that has “no place on our streets or online”.
Martin Paasi, a first-term Member of Finnish Parliament for the National Coalition, on Monday stated to Helsingin Sanomat that the riots were caused by one-sided reporting in the UK.
“The background of the perpetrator were kept secret until social media was dizzy with speculation, meaning you had to say something to quell the wildest rumours. I have a strong feeling that there was an attempt to hide something so that the situation wouldn’t get worse,” he commented.
“Undergirding this is a personal major concern that, as the traditional quality media is increasingly like social media – meaning stories are coloured to align with the world views of journalists – it contributes to decreasing trust in the traditional media and increasing polarisation across the world.”
Paasi has also taken issue with an analysis made at the editorial desk of Ilta-Sanomat.
“The far-right harnessed feelings of fear, anger and anxiety as a tool for its anti-immigration policy soon after the stabbing. Disinformation about the background of the perpetrator, meaning wrong and misleading information, was spread for this purpose. The lies spread quickly, and their consequences are ugly,” the editorial team wrote on Sunday, 4 August.
Paasi, though, viewed that no conspiracy theories are necessary when a teenager of an immigrant background murders young children and “the woke establishment” tries to turn it into something else.
“Just like you, Ilta-Sanomat, are doing in your editorial,” he commented on X.
Onni Rostila, a first-term Member of Finnish Parliament for the Finns Party, struck a similar tone in a column published in Suomen Uutiset, the official mouthpiece of the populist right-wing party. He accused the media of “selective colour-blindness” and “racism against white people,” arguing that its sole purpose is to steer the public into “responsible thinking”.
“The worst thing that you can do to relationships within a population is to build double standards on ideological grounds and cry ‘far right’ at the justified anger of people,” he wrote.
The column was shared on X by Minister of Finance Riikka Purra (PS).
“Horrible events happen all over the world, and the reactions are different depending on the circumstance,” Purra stated to Helsingin Sanomat on Monday. “It’s definitely ill-advised to belittle or search for various explanations that seek to belittle these events.”
She also dismissed the concern that some have jumped to conclusions by discussing the effects of immigration in the context of the attack.
“When I talk about the problems of immigration, I also talk about the second generation [of immigrants], who are still overrepresented both in terms of crime and income transfers in Finland, for example. You have to be able to talk about the problems of immigration and recognise that they move voters and citizens,” she argued.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) on Tuesday told YLE that he does not believe the traditional media kept any details of the attack a secret.
“There are problems associated with integration on all sides, and if you don’t integrate, if you don’t find your place in society, it often leads to exclusion or trouble. But I wouldn’t draw that conclusion in this case,” he said.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
