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Police Step Up School Patrols Over 'Red vs Blue' Posts After Arrests and Hoax Warnings

Forces report no evidence of organised fights, focusing on reassurance rather than a proven threat.

Overview

  • The Metropolitan Police arrested a man in his 20s and a 15-year-old on March 1 on suspicion of encouraging or assisting a crime linked to the trend, and both were later released on bail pending further inquiries.
  • Nottinghamshire Police increased high‑visibility patrols but said they have no intelligence of planned violence and confirmed a separate school stabbing in Lenton was unrelated to the online posts.
  • West Midlands Police arrested a 13-year-old on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon at a Solihull school, with officers urging parents to discuss safe social media use; no link to organised 'school wars' was asserted.
  • In Bristol, ITV viewed footage of a 12-year-old girl being repeatedly punched at school, and her family say the violence was inflamed by a 'School Wars' post circulating among local teenagers.
  • Birmingham’s Erdington Academy told parents widely shared posters were entirely fabricated and a hoax, while police and West Mercia officers warned that sharing false or misleading material online may be an offence and kept patrols in place to reassure communities.