Laurence Fox, Joey Barton and a number of other right-wing grifters have been slammed for their reaction to the Liverpool parade car crash.
On bank holiday Monday, a car ploughed into a crowd of people during Liverpool FC’s open top bus parade to celebrate winning the Premier League title.
Some 27 people were taken to hospital, with two people, including a child, suffering serious injuries.
Merseyside Police said a 53-year-old white British man had been arrested following the incident. They have said they believe him to be the driver of the vehicle, and that they aren’t treating the incident as terrorism.
But in the minutes after the awful news of the crash broke, some of the usual suspects were quick to post on social media about the incident before any facts had been established.
Some on social media have accused the likes of Joey Barton and Laurence Fox of trying to rile up their right-wing following and “weaponise” the incident with some of their posts.
Barton for example seems to have edited a post on X about the crash, removing a sentence in which he states “everyone knows what’s gone on,” adding “when will it stop.”
Meanwhile, Fox used the crash to launch attacks on the BBC and post inflammatory messages.
After labelling the BBC “enemies of the people” for some unknown reason, he then posted “what is coming next is inevitable” and said “you cannot hate them enough.”
He was roundly condemned for the posts, with some hitting out at him for posting about the incident before the police had made a statement.
One person wrote: “They always show their true colours when horrific stuff like this happen. They never wait for the facts.”
Former Tory MP Michael Fabricant also posted on X, urging the prime minister Keir Starmer to “be honest about the incident in Liverpool and not withhold information or mislead.”
When information was released by Merseyside Police about the man who had been arrested, some pointed out that this was exactly why people should wait for the facts before posting.
Police have urged people not to speculate about the incident and to not share footage on social media.
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