Topic: Nov 2019 - London Bridge: Two killed in stabbing attack

[Baden Guy]

Two members of the public have died in a stabbing attack at London Bridge, in which police shot dead the suspect.

A further three were injured in the attack - declared a terrorist incident - and are being treated in hospital.

The suspect, who died at the scene, was wearing what is believed to have been a hoax explosive device, police said.

Videos on social media appear to show passers-by holding down a man. An officer arrives, seems to indicate to the group to move, and fires a shot.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-50604781

- mod edit to clarify which London Bridge attack is being referenced -

[Haggis]

The suspect, who died at the scene, was wearing what is believed to have been a hoax explosive device, police said.

Intended to keep first responders and armed interventionists at bay (don't want to risk a detonation from a "deadman" switch) so he could attack uninterrupted for a longer period.

[Brihard]

Intended to keep first responders and armed interventionists at bay (don't want to risk a detonation from a "deadman" switch) so he could attack uninterrupted for a longer period.

Having watched the video, all it got him was a headshot. Police saw the bomb, called it out, hauled the civilians off the threat, and zapped him twice.

[daftandbarmy]

Having watched the video, all it got him was a headshot.

I'll drink to that 

Best. Thing. Ever.

"There were reports that one man had taken a five-foot long narwhal tusk from the hall to confront him."

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/29/london-bridge-police-shoot-stabbing-suspect-after-five-injured

[Haggis]

Having watched the video, all it got him was a headshot. Police saw the bomb, called it out, hauled the civilians off the threat, and zapped him twice.

Which is, of course, the SOP in such a scenario.

[milnews.ca]

What's known about the chap ...

• "Usman Khan profile: terrorist who wanted to bomb London Stock Exchange" (The Telegraph)
• "This is what we know about London Bridge stabbing suspect Usman Khan" (CNN)
• "London Bridge: Attacker had been convicted of terror offence" (BBC)
• "London Bridge terror attacker named as convicted terrorist Usman Khan" (UK Evening Standard)
• "Stoke-on-Trent terrorist Usman Khan described Osama Bin Laden as 'beautiful' " (UK Stoke Sentinel)

[tomahawk6]

The comments I saw were interesting. They were about the attackers early release from prison and the opinion that violent people charged with serious crimes should get life in prison with no release.

[milnews.ca]

Some of the latest ...

ISIL claims responsibility for deadly London Bridge attack
Armed group claims one of its 'fighters' behind killing of two people in UK's capital as police probe continues.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) group has claimed responsibility for the deadly knife-attack in London on Friday where a man was shot dead by police after he stabbed several people, killing two.

The group claimed responsibility on Saturday via its Amaq news agency without providing any evidence.

"The person who carried out the London attack ... was a fighter from the Islamic State, and did so in response to calls to target citizens of coalition countries," the statement read, referring to a multi-country alliance against the group ...

More @ link

[milnews.ca]

... the opinion that violent people charged with serious crimes should get life in prison with no release.

Makes this a bit of a... complicating example there ...
"London Bridge bystander who helped pin down attacker is convicted murderer on day release"

Other interesting things to come out of this one ...

• "Mohammed the kitchen porter joined Polish chef to ‘stop London Bridge terrorist’ "
• "London Bridge attack: Poland honors narwal tusk-wielding hero"
• "London Bridge attack: ‘heroes’ who fought back include convicted murderer, a Polish chef and a plain clothes cop"

<sarcasm> Damned foreigners & criminals taking away work from good, law-abiding Brits </sarcasm> 

In all seriousness, well done to all!

[Thucydides]

At least there are still good people who will "march towards the sounds of gunfire" to confront terrorists with whatever is at hand (even narwhal tusks and fire extinguishers). We should be thankful such people exist and work to ensure there are many more however and whenever we can.

[tomahawk6]

The UK PM stated 74 terror prisoners were released early.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-50618744

Boris Johnson has told the BBC that 74 people jailed for terror offences and released early will have their licence conditions reviewed.
The Ministry of Justice launched the urgent review after convicted terrorist Usman Khan, who had served half of his sentence, killed two people in a knife attack at London Bridge on Friday.

The prime minister claimed scrapping early release would have stopped him.
But Labour is blaming budget cuts for "missed chances to intervene".
Friday's attack was brought to an end when police shot Khan dead.
London Bridge attack victim had 'lust for life'
Why was the London Bridge attacker out of prison?
The 28-year-old had been jailed in 2012 over a plot to bomb the London Stock Exchange.
He was given a special jail term known as Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP), which meant he would serve at least eight years and could not be released unless he had convinced the Parole Board he was no longer a threat.

But in 2013, the Court of Appeal replaced the sentence with a 16-year-fixed term of which Khan should serve half in prison.
He was released on licence in December 2018 - subject to an "extensive list of licence conditions", police said.
'Repulsive'

Mr Johnson told the BBC's Andrew Marr show it was "repulsive" that someone as "dangerous" as Khan could be released from prison after "only serving eight years".

He blamed Khan's release on legislation introduced under "a leftie government", insisting the automatic release scheme was introduced by Labour - but was challenged about what the Conservatives had done to change the law over the past 10 years in government.
"Now that I am prime minister I'm going to take steps to make sure that people are not released early when they commit... serious sexual, violent or terrorist offences," he said.

"I absolutely deplore the that fact that this man was out on the streets... and we are going to take action against it."
Mr Johnson said there were "probably about 74 people" convicted of serious offences who had been released early - a figure confirmed by the Ministry of Justice.
The prime minister said action had been taken immediately following London Bridge attack "to ensure there is no threat to the public".

[daftandbarmy]

The comments I saw were interesting. They were about the attackers early release from prison and the opinion that violent people charged with serious crimes should get life in prison with no release.

Then there would be far fewer MPs in Northern Ireland 

[Navy_Pete]

Here's an interesting article I ran across from the guy's lawyer claiming he was asking for help to de-radicalize for years;

London Bridge attacker had asked for help to deradicalise - lawyer

Usman Khan had realised in prison that Islamist violence was wrong, says Vajahat Sharif

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/30/london-bridge-attacker-had-asked-for-help-to-deradicalise-lawyer

The UK has been going through some pretty serious austerity cuts for over a decade, and their prison system has a significant double whammy of understaffing and over crowding.  Tough nut to crack, but unless you want to throw someone in jail forever, really need to do something for any kind of ideological offender while they are in jail (including hate crimes etc in addition to terrorists). Same idea as trying to get drug addicts clean so they are less likely to reoffend. It costs a bit more, but from a strictly financial point of view (ignoring the human cost for a second), a one-and-done offender has to be much less of a burden on the tax payer then a career criminal that bounces in and out of jails (plus victims of future crimes, and all the other obvious social issues that come along with that).  Unless you run a for-profit jail, there is really no upside to someone reoffending because you never bothered sorting out the root cause.

[CloudCover]

Narwhal Tusk Surrender bins now installed in the UK. It’s crazy out there, people need to be safe.

https://babylonbee.com/news/narwhal-tusk-surrender-bins-installed-throughout-UK

[milnews.ca]

Here's an interesting article I ran across from the guy's lawyer claiming he was asking for help to de-radicalize for years ...

Now, it looks like stuff he did try didn't appear to work in his case ...

London Bridge attacker Usman Khan attended two counter-terrorism programmes that had not been fully tested to see if they were effective, BBC News has discovered.

Khan, who was convicted of a terrorism offence in 2012, killed Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, on Friday.

He had completed two rehabilitation schemes during the eight years he spent in prison and following his release.

The government says such programmes are kept "under constant review".

Three others were injured after Khan launched the attack at a prisoner rehabilitation event inside Fishmongers' Hall near London Bridge.

Inquests into the deaths of Mr Merritt and Ms Jones were opened and adjourned at the Old Bailey on Wednesday.

The court heard that both of them died after being stabbed in the chest. The date for the full inquests is still to be decided.

City of London senior coroner Alison Hewitt also opened and adjourned the inquest into Khan, who died from multiple gunshot wounds after being shot by police.

The inquest heard that Khan had been at the venue to participate in group workshops.

During his time in prison, Khan completed a course for people convicted of extremism offences and after his release went on a scheme to address the root causes of terrorism.

The first course Khan went on, the Healthy Identity Intervention Programme, was piloted from 2010 and is now the main rehabilitation scheme for prisoners convicted of offences linked to extremism.

Last year, the Ministry of Justice published the findings of research into the pilot project which found it was "viewed positively" by a sample of those who attended and ran the course.

However, the department has not completed any work to test whether the scheme prevents reoffending or successfully tackles extremist behaviour.

There has also been no evaluation of the impact of the Desistance and Disengagement Programme, which Khan took part in after his release last year ...

[Navy_Pete]

"Healthy Identity Intervention Program" sounds like one of those mandatory briefings that you have to attend that are well intentioned but not really effective.

Tough nut to crack; hard to figure out what makes normal people tick, let alone what would drive someone to terrorism, so how do you get them to 'see the error of their ways'.  Crazy though that although the initial judge thought he was dangerous enough to give him an indefinite sentence, it got overturned on appeal and dropped down. Maybe early intervention before they cross the line would be easier. Dunno, but it's sad that the whole system failed and two people died as a result.