- Title: Viral ice cream TikTok star shows gratitude to 'priceless' UK police after riots
- Date: 7th August 2024
- Summary: WREXHAM, WALES, UNITED KINGDOM (AUGUST 7, 2024) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) TIKTOK STAR, MR.TEE, SAYING: "To be honest. I mean, it's priceless, isn't it. if it wasn't for the police, these things would spew out of control completely. And God knows what would be happening. You know, you could get things from a war torn country imaginable because people were, for some re
- Embargoed: 21st August 2024 12:33
- Keywords: britain ice cream mr tee police riots sunderland uk
- Location: WREXHAM, WALES AND SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- City: WREXHAM, WALES AND SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: UK
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Europe,Civil Unrest
- Reuters ID: LVA004506707082024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: In a video that has since gone viral, an "ice cream" TikTok star showed his gratitude for the UK police force on Saturday (August 3) by offering frozen snacks to officers free of charge.
In an interview on Wednesday (August 7), Mr.Tee, who has over 250,000 TikTok followers, said he wanted to show a token of his appreciation for the role the officers played in quelling the riots, which erupted across the country over the weekend.
"It's a very difficult job...the risk factor is quite high," he told Reuters. "We thought we'd show them a little bit of love."
In the video, Mr.Tee can be seen preparing ice cream for the officers just as they inform him that they've been deployed.
"If it wasn't for the police, these things would spew out of control completely," Mr. Tee said.
Britain has been gripped by an escalating wave of violence that erupted early last week when three young girls were killed in a knife attack in Southport, northwest England, triggering a wave of false messaging online that wrongly identified the suspected killer as an Islamist migrant.
In towns and cities, groups of a few hundred rioters have clashed with police and smashed windows of hotels housing asylum-seekers from Africa and the Middle East, chanting "get them out" and "stop the boats" - a reference to those arriving in Britain in small dinghies without permission.
They have also pelted mosques with rocks. Muslim organisations said it was a worrying time for their community and have issued safety advice to mosques and other Islamic institutions.
"Rioting, looting stores, stealing things, showing frustration and showing anger. I think that's the total opposite side of the spectrum of what we should be doing," Mr.Tee said.
"When we utilise positivity it overcomes negativity in a much, much better way."
(Production: Milan Pavicic, Hannah Ellison) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None