LONDON (AP) — People in Southport, England, gathered Sunday for the first of the funerals for three girls killed during a Taylor Swift dance class, remembering the bright smile of 9-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar and calling for an end to the Unrest that has shaken Britain since the attack two weeks ago.
Hundreds of mourners crowded into St. Patrick’s Catholic Church and spilled into the street, which was decorated with pink ribbons and balloons in Alice’s honor. Among them was Police Commissioner Serena Kennedy, who delivered the parents’ message that no one should commit acts of violence in their daughter’s name.
“I am ashamed and so sorry that you even had to consider this when planning the funeral of your beautiful daughter Alice,” said Kennedy, the head of Merseyside Police, which covers the Liverpool area. “And I hope that everyone who took part in the violent unrest on our streets over the last 13 days hangs their head in shame at the pain they have caused you, a grieving family.”
Right-wing extremist activists have used misinformation about the attack that killed Alice as a pretext for anti-immigrant demonstrations that degenerated into riots and looting as mobs attacked mosques, immigrant-owned businesses and hotels housing asylum seekers. The unrest was fuelled by social media users who Spreading false information about the suspect in the July 29 knife attack.
Rumours quickly circulated online, later refuted, that the suspect was an asylum seeker or a Muslim immigrant. The suspect was born in Wales and moved to the Southport area in 2013. His parents were originally from Rwanda.
The Violence calmed down on Wednesday When right-wing extremist demonstrations expected In dozens of places across the UK, no such protest took place. Instead, numerous peaceful anti-racism demonstrators gathered.
But on Sunday the focus was on Alice.
Her parents, Sergio and Alexandra, described Alice as a “perfect dream child” who loved animals and went through the world with confidence and empathy.
“We are shocked, unimaginable pain, we miss you,” they said in an obituary read on her behalf. “From time to time the pin drops. When mom says, ‘Goodnight Sergio, goodnight Alice,’ and then it hits us again like a slap in the face. We don’t hear you back.”
Jinnie Payne, headmistress of Churchtown Primary School, recalled that Alice once decorated a teacher’s pointer as a magic wand and outlined the seven “Alice qualities” she wanted every pupil to have.
This includes a big smile, genuine interest in others and treating everyone equally.
“That’s my favorite part, how a child at such a young age couldn’t choose one friend over another,” she told the congregation. “Friends, she played with everyone equally. That’s so hard, and she mastered it.”
But she also loved to dance.
On Sunday, her parents posted a photo of Alice standing next to a cardboard cutout of Swift, waiting for her final dance lesson to begin.
“It’s time to say, ‘There goes Alice,'” Payne said through tears. “We’re going to let you go dance now, Alice. Teach those angels some dance steps.”
