Why it was important police were quick to point out the Liverpool suspect is white

Moments after a car tore into fans celebrating Liverpool’s 20th Premier League title, social media flooded with false claims that the driver was a Muslim man.

Almost 50 people, including four children, were wounded, with some even trapped under the vehicle as the horror unfolded.

As emergency services responded on the ground, a different narrative was taking hold online.

Anonymous accounts quickly fuelled speculation, deploying fake images, misleading captions and claims backed by no evidence to push an Islamophobic narrative.

But Merseyside Police were quick to put an end to online misinformation spreading in a move described as ‘unprecedented’.

Police moves fast to shut down rumours after Southport attack

Learning from past mistakes, Merseyside Police moved to shut down the rumours.

Within two hours, they confirmed that a white male, aged 53, was arrested and that the incident was not being treated as terrorism.

In July last year, Merseyside Police faced criticism for the lack of information released in the wake of the murders of three girls in Southport.

Peter Williams, lecturer in policing at Liverpool John Moores University, described it as a ‘complete step change’ in how the force is managing the public discourse.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the quicker response was very different to what happened after the Southport terror attack in July 2024.

He said: It has been a shift, because, particularly in relation to the aftermath of Southport…

‘There was a lot of criticism focused at Merseyside Police and of course the CPS, in relation to how the management of information was sort of dealt with.

‘But also, if listeners cast their mind back further, is the investigation into Nicola Bulley as how the management of the information was responded to on that occasion. That led to a College of Policing inquiry.’

He said one of the recommendations made after the Southport attack was to prevent any ‘vacuums’ of information in future incidents, particularly ifthere is harmful online content.

Mr Williams continued: ‘It was no surprise to me last night that within an hour or so, we got a statement to say what had happened and that somebody, a male, had been detained. Later on, there was a press conference led by the Assistant Chief Constable, where she shared a lot more information.’

Former Metropolitan Police chief superintendent, Dal Babu, told BBC Radio 5 Live: ‘What we do have, which is unprecedented, is the police very quickly giving the ethnicity and the race of the person who was driving the vehicle… and it was Merseyside Police who didn’t give that information with the Southport horrific murders of those three girls, and the rumours were that it was an asylum seeker who arrived on a boat and it was a Muslim extremist and that wasn’t the case.

‘So I think what the police have done very, very quickly, and I’ve never known a case like this before where they’ve given the ethnicity and the race of the individual who was involved in it, so I think that was to dampen down some of the speculation from the far-right that sort of continues on X even as we speak that this was a Muslim extremist and there’s a conspiracy theory.’

Police call for end of spread of misinformation online

Merseyside Police assistant chief constable Jenny Sims stressed that it is ‘vital’ that people do not speculate or spread misinformation online.

During last night’s press conference, she said: ‘I know that people will understandably be concerned by what has happened tonight.

‘What I can tell you is that we believe this to be an isolated incident, and we are not currently looking for anyone else in relation to it. The incident is not being treated as terrorism.’

Alison McGovern, MP for Birkenhead, also called on members of public not to speculate following the ‘really awful’ incident.

She felt ‘so devastated’ after spending four hours at the Liverpool’s Premier League victory parade.

Asked about how important the police announcement of an arrest was, the Labour MP said: ‘The police gave out some very clear messages yesterday, not least that if people have got footage or anything that might be useful to them, then please, please give it to Merseyside Police and do not speculate on the internet or share things like that.

‘In Merseyside, the police have been through quite a lot in recent times and they’ are very, very capable, and I would ask people to listen to them and to do as they’ve asked.’

Disinformation spreads about attacker’s identity

It did not take long after the attack for disinformation to spread on social media, suggesting that the suspect is a Muslim man.

Pictures of a man present at the parade were circulated online, identifying him by name, and claiming that he was behind the wheel of the car.

But the man was later seen in the crowd, celebrating with other Liverpool fans.

One account on X, authenticated by the app as a ‘parody account’, asked if the driver was ‘a Ukrainian or a Muslim’, claiming it is ‘always one or the other’.

‘Either a “refugee” from a Nato-fuelled war zone or another radical jihadist let in under Britain’s open border suicide pact,’ the post added.

Others even suggested that Merseyside Police is purposely misleading the public that the suspect is a white man.

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