Sunderland condemn latest night of riot shame as club releases statement after masked yobs torch... (original) (raw)

Sunderland condemn latest night of riot shame as club releases statement after masked yobs torch police station, burn a taxi and surround a mosque in the city following Southport stabbings

Published: 19:48 EST, 2 August 2024 | Updated: 20:54 EST, 2 August 2024

Championship football club Sunderland have issued a statement condemning the 'shameful scenes' that took place in the Wearside city on Friday night.

Rampaging hooligans, many wearing masks, torched a police station and looted shops.

A taxi was also set on fire before a large mob surrounded the city's Millfield Mosque as police formed a human shield.

'Tonight's shameful scenes do not represent our culture, our history, or our people,' read the statement from the football club.

'Our great city is built on togetherness and acceptance, and Sunderland will forever be for all. We are stronger as one community. Now. Then. Always.'

Sunderland Central Police Office was set on fire as riots erupted in the city on Friday

A vehicle was set alight by a group of hooligans in Sunderland city centre amid violent riots

Sunderland AFC issued a club statement condemning Friday evening's 'shameful scenes'

Among the hundreds taking to the streets of Sunderland was a shirtless man with a nazi tattoo on his back.

A topless man was filmed launching into a racist tirade, saying: 'This time in your own f***ing country if you're ashamed to be f***ing white and be an Englishman… f*** off.'

Sunderland was the latest city to witness violent disorder by hooligans claiming to be acting in response to this week's tragic stabbings in Southport - where three children were killed on Monday.

The 17-year-old charged with the murders of three girls in Southport appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday, and was named as Axel Rudakubana, from Banks in Lancashire.

One man in Sunderland was seen wearing red braces, with a Swastika tattooed on his back

Before police named Rudakubana as the alleged killer, widespread fake news went viral via social media claiming that the knife attacks had been carried out by a Muslim asylum-seeker who had arrived in the UK via a small boat.

This misinformation seemingly sparked a wave of Islamophobic anger and multiple mosques have since been attacked and threatened in recent days.