This new £875,000 fund will address "antisemitism, Islamophobia and hate crime in all its forms."
The "Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual" was found among Rudakubana's possessions, and he was also charged with creating the toxin ricin, which been used in deadly attacks. Rudakubana's attack was not declared an act of terror by authorities. Prior to the attacks, he had been referred to the anti-terror governmental authority three times, had home visits, and been convicted of an assault on another child. The government has been accused of "withholding information."
In announcing the funding, Khan referenced the July 29, 2024, attacks on schoolgirls attending a Taylor Swift dance class in Southport. He glossed over the brutal stabbing attack on the girls, three of whom ages 6 to 9 died from their injuries, and focused on the aftermath of that incident. Nearly 1,600 people were arrested over the riots and online commentary. At least 1,000 were charged and charges were still coming months after the riots.
"The Southport disorder and chilling attacks that followed shocked our nation and showed how fast false information can spread online. I’m investing £875k more—part of a record £15.9m—in community projects to tackle hate crime and strengthen London’s resilience to extremism," said Khan in a post. That "misinformation" was that the attacker was Islamic and spurred on by hate to commit the attacks. Khan has also blamed the availability of knives for the tragedy.
The announcement reads that the fund "works to empower Londoners to challenge hateful views in their communities, better protect those vulnerable to radicalisation and stop the spread of growing hateful ideologies including the far-right."
The Southport attacks in the UK in 2024 saw a second-generation Rwandan man, Rudakubana, born in Wales, commit a mass stabbing attack, killing three schoolgirls, leaving eight other children and two adults seriously wounded. In the wake of that attack, assumptions were made about the suspect, namely that he was a Muslim migrant from Syria.
"After rumours that the assailant was an illegal Syrian immigrant were proven untrue, it was insisted for months that he was a quiet Welsh choirboy. The release of his frightful mugshot dispelled that myth," wrote Connor Tomlinson. Tomlinson went on to note that Rudakubana had documents "ISIS car bombs, Nazi Germany, violence involving Buddhists in Sri Lanka, ethnic clan-based cleansing in Somalia, the Rwandan genocide, the Iraq and Balkans wars, and depictions of torture and beheadings."
Riots erupted among angry English, a mosque was damaged, people who posted on social media, such as one 53-year-old woman who said, "Don't protect the mosque, blow it up," were imprisoned. Other riots were staged outside government-funded hotels for migrants. The Tuesday after the Monday stabbing attack, protests and vigils held to remember the deceased, 6-year-old Bebe King, 7-year-old Elsie Stancombe, and 9-year-old Dasilva Aguiar, occurred in the same proximity. They were each stabbed dozens and dozens of times.
Protesters attacked officers with bricks, buckets, and one woman pushed a trash bin at them before falling on her face. She would later be sentenced to a prison term. The man who set an officer's car on fire was also sentenced. Rudakubana was eventually sentenced to 52 years in prison. On July 29, he went to the sold-out Taylor Swift-themed dance class and began stabbing young girls while they made friendship bracelets. It was not a random attack; he took a taxi directly to the event.
Merseyside police spoke out after those riots saying, "Yesterday, our officers and other members of the emergency services were faced with one of the most difficult situations they will ever face," Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss said. "Tonight, they find themselves being attacked as they endeavor to prevent disorder. The actions in Southport tonight will involve many people who do not live in the Merseyside area or care about the people of Merseyside."
He noted that, "There has been much speculation and hypothesis around the status of a 17-year-old male who is currently in police custody, and some individuals are using this to bring violence and disorder to our streets," adding, "We have already said that the person arrested was born in the UK and speculation helps nobody at this time." This was what was repeated by authorities, that essentially Rudakubana was a Welshman.
It was announced by British politicians that criminals, including those who had been imprisoned for domestic violence, would be freed from prison early to make room for the rioters, and for those who posted objectionable sentiments on social media, in the wake of the attacks and amid the riots. A 26-year-old father was sentenced to over 3 months for a post on X which read "set fire to the f*cking hotels." It is this that Khan is attempting to address, not the motivation for stabbing little girls to death.
Source link