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Scottish police have warned people to factcheck online claims before going to protests, after crowds gathered outside two homes in Glasgow this week, in one case as a result of mistaken identity.
Police Scotland said that several nights of disorder in Scotland’s biggest city had “clearly been orchestrated by individuals who are not from Glasgow”.
It added that a further protest based on entirely false information was planned for the weekend.
Large gatherings in the Glasgow neighbourhoods of Cranhill on Tuesday and Castlemilk on Thursday followed online speculation that men accused of serious crimes were living in those areas.
The first disturbance resulted from vigilantes finding out that a man charged with assault in connection with an alleged rape by another man in Glasgow city centre in May had recently moved to Cranhill.
The second was a case of mistaken identity, police said, targeting an individual that had not been charged with an offence.
Last week, similar disorder took place in Royston, Glasgow, in response to an alleged sexual assault. In each case, no one has been found guilty of the attacks that prompted the protests.
Five police officers were injured during the three protests, with two men arrested for attacking police.
Alan Waddell, a Police Scotland assistant chief constable, told BBC Radio Scotland that protest was “part of Scotland’s fabric”, but that misinformation was being spread online by bad actors, often from outside Glasgow.
He said they were “tapping into fears within the community about perceived sex offenders … of an ethnic background”.
Waddell said much of the information was factually incorrect.
He highlighted a protest planned to take place outside a Glasgow care home this weekend over untrue rumours it will be closed and turned into accommodation for asylum seekers.
“I spoke in relation to a protest that turned into disorder a few weeks ago, and I was really clear that people had been targeted in Glasgow because of the colour of their skin,” Waddell said. “Some of this that we’re seeing just now feels like that’s been amplified and built upon.
“We’ve really got to call that out and challenge that.”
He added: “The public in Scotland know how to protest, and that’s lawfully and peacefully. We’ve not changed our position. If you want to do that, we’ll find a way to work with you and facilitate that.
“But if you’re enticed to go to one that’s been generated online [with] a clear focus on disrupting and causing disorder or moving towards violence, don’t go. Or sense-check who’s put out the information on it, what other sources of information are available, because ultimately you’ll be held accountable for your actions.
“If you break the law you should expect to be caught and punished for that.”
David Kennedy from of the Scottish Police Federation called the scenes “disgraceful”.
He told BBC Radio Scotland: “For certain individuals, it’s about violence, it’s not about protest.”
He said people in Scotland were being “manipulated” by outside influences and that hate crime and disorder were not a legitimate form of protest.
Kennedy said the disorder was “frightening” for officers, who were physically attacked and had missiles thrown at them. “To be confronted with this level of violence, is not something we see in Scotland.”
