LONDON (AP) — Several suspects arrested in the violent protests following the fatal knife attack on three children in northwest England appeared in court Friday as authorities prepared for more clashes that Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned and blamed on “far-right hatred.”

Starmer vowed to put an end to the chaos and said police across the UK would be given more resources to prevent “a breakdown of law and order on our streets”.

In the coming days, demonstrations are being advertised online in cities such as Sunderland, Belfast, Cardiff, Liverpool and Manchester. Speeches include slogans such as “Enough”, “Save our children” and “Stop the boats”.

John Woodcock, the British government’s adviser on political violence and unrest, spoke of a “concerted and coordinated” attempt to escalate the violence.

“Some of these far-right actors have obviously got a taste for it and are trying to provoke similar incidents in cities across the UK,” he told the BBC.

The attack on children during a Taylor Swift-themed summer dance class shocked a country on Monday where knife crime is a long-standing and vexed problem but mass stabbings are rare.

Axel Rudakubana, 17, has been charged with murder for the attack that killed 9-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 7-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and 6-year-old Bebe King in the coastal town of Southport in northwest England. He was also charged with 10 counts of attempted murder for the eight injured children and two adults.

Starmer visited Southport for the second time this week on Thursday, meeting with police, community leaders and residents before heading to the children’s hospital where many of the victims were being treated.

His office announced a vaguely worded relief package to help victims and bring the community closer together, but the announcement did not mention how this would be achieved or whether any financial resources would be made available.

A violent demonstration in Southport on Tuesday was followed by others across the country – partly fuelled by online false reports that the attacker was a Muslim and an immigrant. Rudakubana was born in the UK to Rwandan parents and lived near the scene of the attack.

Usually in Britain the names of suspects under the age of 18 are not disclosed, but Judge Andrew Menary ordered that Rudakubana could be identified, in part to prevent the spread of misinformation.

Far-right demonstrators have apparently staged several violent protests in response to the attack. They clashed with police outside a mosque in Southport on Tuesday and threw beer cans, bottles and flares near the Prime Minister’s office in London the next day.

The violence has left the Muslim community in turmoil and hundreds of mosques across the country have increased security following the Southport attack, said Zara Mohammed, general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain.

Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders gathered at the Southport Mosque and declared that they were “united to defeat all forms of hatred and extremism in our country”.

Merseyside Police, which serves Southport, said it had made seven arrests so far and a team of experts was reviewing hundreds of hours of footage to identify those involved.

“If you were involved in these disturbances, you can expect our officers to be knocking on your door,” said Detective Chief Inspector Tony Roberts.

In the town of Hartlepool in northeast England, police officers were pelted with bottles and eggs on Wednesday.

Sixteen people have been arrested so far in the wake of the unrest, including an 11-year-old boy accused of setting fire to a police car. A 13-year-old boy and a woman were also arrested on suspicion of violent disorder.

Five of those arrested were taken into custody after appearing at Teesside Magistrates’ Court on charges of violent disorder. Two others admitted taking part in the disorder and were released on bail pending sentencing next month.

Ryan Sheers, who a prosecutor said was bitten by a police dog after repeatedly trying to push his way through a line of officers, cried during the hearing.

Outside court, Sheers, a former McDonald’s employee, denied any involvement in the incident, although he admitted in court that he was involved.

“We didn’t interfere in anything,” Sheers said. “We didn’t destroy any city.”

At a press conference on Thursday, the prime minister said the street violence was “clearly motivated by far-right hatred” and announced a program to enable police to better share information across agencies and make arrests more quickly.

“This is coordinated, this is deliberate,” Starmer said. “This is not a protest that has gotten out of control. It is a group of individuals who are absolutely bent on violence.”

Starmer said his so-called National Violent Disorder Programme would allow police to move between communities – just as “marauding mobs” do. Officers will use facial recognition technology to identify offenders and issue criminal orders, often imposed on football hooligans, banning them from going to certain places or meeting with others.

Starmer blamed social media companies in part for this, but did not announce any action on the matter, saying a balance had to be struck between the value they offered and the threat they could pose.

“Violent riots that are obviously instigated online are also a crime. They are taking place on your property,” he said.

Brian Melley and Jill Lawless, The Associated Press