Merseyside Police urge end to speculation over 17-year-old suspect arrested over Monday’s fatal attack on children’s dance class.

A large crowd of far-right, anti-Muslim protesters has clashed with police in Southport in the northwest of England, hours after the town held a vigil for those killed and injured in a knife attack on a Taylor Swift-themed children’s dance and yoga class.

Merseyside Police said that 22 officers were injured in Tuesday night’s violence, eight of them seriously. The unrest began when several hundred people, most of them men, began targeting a Southport mosque, setting vehicles and wheelie bins on fire and attacking a local shop.

Bottles and bricks were thrown at police who linked the rioters to the English Defence League, a group that has sometimes staged violent demonstrations against Islam.

Off-duty officers and reinforcements from other forces were brought in to restore calm.

“Tonight, Merseyside Police has faced serious violence in Southport,” Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss said in the statement, adding that officers had “displayed … courage whilst under constant and sustained attack”.

The violence broke out shortly after hundreds of people gathered in the town centre to pay tribute to those killed in the attack, laying flowers and toys. Three girls were killed in the attack while eight children were injured, with five of them in critical condition in hospital. Two adults who tried to protect them also remain in critical condition.

United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised that the “full force of the law” would be used against the rioters.

“The people of Southport are reeling after the horror inflicted on them yesterday,” he wrote on the social media platform X.  “They deserve our support and our respect. Those who have hijacked the vigil for the victims with violence and thuggery have insulted the community as it grieves.”

Police have arrested a teenager for murder and attempted murder over the stabbings, saying the suspect was born in the Welsh city of Cardiff and lived in a village near Southport.

“There has been much speculation and hypothesis around the status of a 17-year-old male who is currently in police custody and some individuals are using this to bring violence and disorder to our streets,” Goss said.

“We have already said that the person arrested was born in the UK and speculation helps nobody at this time.”

Goss and local politicians said many of those involved in Tuesday’s violence came from outside the area, while the Liverpool Region Mosque Network said a minority of people were trying to use the incident to spread hatred.

“This evening we have seen distressing scenes outside Southport Mosque with angry protesters gathering outside,” it said in a statement. “This is causing further fear and anxiety within our communities.”

The three girls who died in the attack have been named as six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar, whose parents are Portuguese.

“Keep smiling and dancing like you love to do our princess, like we said before to you, you’re always our princess and no one would change that,” Aguiar’s family said in a statement.

Writing on Instagram, singer Taylor Swift said she was “completely in shock” over “the loss of life and innocence, and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone”.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies