British police said Thursday they have charged a 17-year-old with murder over a stabbing attack that left three little girls dead and several more in critical condition.

The charges came as the traumatized town of Southport cleaned up after a bout of far-right violence, and agitators fired up by anger and misinformation clashed with police near the prime minister’s residence in London.

The Merseyside Police force said the teenager, who has not been named because of his age, faces three counts of murder and 10 of attempted murder over people injured in the attack during a Taylor Swift-themed summer holiday dance and yoga class.

He is due to appear in court in Liverpool later Thursday.

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Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor Ursula Doyle, left, and Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy announce that a 17-year-old boy was charged with the murders of three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed party on Aug. 1, 2024. AP
About two dozen children were attending the summer vacation workshop on Monday when an attacker with a knife burst in.

Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6, died from their injuries.

Ten other people were injured, among whom five girls and two adults are in critical condition.

Far-right demonstrators have launched several violent protests, ostensibly in response to the attack, clashing with police outside a mosque in Southport on Tuesday.

A few hundred protesters hurled beer cans and flares near British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s residence in Downing Street in central London on Wednesday evening.

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Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, Bebe King, 6, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, died from their injuries. via REUTERS

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People attend a vigil for the victims of the knife attack in Southport on July 30, 2024. REUTERS

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Footage captured a masked figure pacing outside a house that was raided in Southport after the knife attack. ITV News
More than 100 people were arrested for offenses including violent disorder and assault on an emergency worker, London’s Metropolitan Police force said.

Police also faced violent demonstrators in the town of Hartlepool in northeast England, as far-right groups seek to stir anger over an attack they have sought to link — without evidence — to immigrants.

Hours earlier, residents of Southport swept shattered glass and broken bricks from streets after far-right protesters clashed with police outside a mosque in the seaside town.

On Tuesday night a crowd of several hundred people hurled bricks and bottles at riot police in Southport, set garbage bins and vehicles on fire and looted a store, hours after a peaceful vigil for the girls, aged 6, 7 and 9, were killed.

More than 50 officers were injured, including more than two dozen who were taken to hospitals, officials said.

“I am absolutely appalled and disgusted at the level of violence that was shown towards my officers,” Merseyside Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said. “Some of the first responders who attended that awful scene on Monday … then were faced with that level of violence.”

Five men have been arrested in connection with the riots in Southport, mainly for violent disorder; one was arrested for possessing a knife and fighting. Kennedy said more arrests were expected.

Starmer condemned the “thuggery” and said the protesters “hijacked” the community’s grief.

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Officers and forensic personnel set up a fence on Hart Street in Southport following the attack on July 29, 2024. AFP via Getty Images

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A few hundred protesters hurled beer cans and flares near British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s residence in Downing Street in central London on Wednesday evening. AFP via Getty Images
Norman Wallis, chief executive of the Southport Pleasureland amusement park, was one of dozens of people who turned up with brushes and shovels to clear the debris.

“It’s horrendous what those hooligans have done last night,” he said. “But none of those people were the people of Southport,” he added. “The people of Southport are the ones here today cleaning the mess up.”

The protesters, who police said were supporters of the far-right English Defence League, were apparently fueled false online rumors about the suspect.

Police said a name circulating on social media — spread by far-right activists and accounts of murky origin purporting to be news organizations — was incorrect and that he was born in Britain, contrary to online claims he was an asylum-seeker.

The names of suspects under the age of 18 are usually not made public in Britain.

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Far-right demonstrators have launched several violent protests, ostensibly in response to the attack, clashing with police outside a mosque in Southport on Tuesday. News Licensing / MEGA

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Riot police stand near a fire during a protest in Southport following the fatal stabbings. Getty Images
Patrick Hurley, the local lawmaker, said the violence by “beered-up thugs” was the result of “propaganda and lies” spread on social media.

“This misinformation doesn’t just exist on people’s internet browsers and on people’s phones. It has real world impact,” he said.

Chanaka Balasuryla, whose corner store was looted for booze and cigarettes, said he watched from home on a surveillance camera as a gang broke in.

He was terrified because a woman and her daughter lived upstairs and he feared the looters would set the shop on fire.