Wednesday afternoon in London, a terrorist struck in the heart of London. I’m calling the assailant a terrorist because British law enforcement says that this incident is being investigated as a terrorist attack. The terrorist ran his car into foot pedestrians outside of Parliament. The terrorist then stabbed a police officer, killing him, and then the terrorist was shot by armed police. Most of the non-fatal injuries from the attack were from the terrorist plowing through people with his car, and French and British students are among the 20-some injured, most of whom needed hospitalization. Prime Minister Theresa May was in the Parliament building when the terrorist attack began, although it is believed that she was quickly moved. The Queen was also in residence at Buckingham Palace, just a short distance from Parliament.
Queen Elizabeth was at Buckingham Palace when the “terrorist incident” occurred in London. The Royal Standard was flying above the landmark building about a mile from the Houses of Parliament where four were killed, signifying that she was in residence. Earlier in the day, she had conducted an audience with the ambassador of Thailand Pisanu Suvanajata and his wife.
As the Houses of Parliament were in lockdown, palace staff said they would not comment on security matters concerning the royal family, because that is an issue for the police.
The Queen’s son and heir Prince Charles was in Yorkshire, northeastern England, carrying out a variety of visits. He started the day at a farm, which is the home to some small businesses, and was between two appointments, having just left the Army Foundation College in Harrogate, where he had been learning more about the training and education there, when news broke of the incident 220 miles south in London. His “away-day” tour continued and ended when he met patients, volunteers and staff at the Prince of Wales Hospice, Pontefract. his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall was at a school in Newmarket, about 70 miles north of London.
Prince William, Princess Kate and Prince Harry were not doing anything publicly today. Their office at Kensington Palace would not comment on their whereabouts. Kate has an engagement in London on Thursday, to highlight the importance of mental health in mothers as part of the royals’ Heads Together campaign. Also on Thursday, the Queen is scheduled to open the Metropolitan Police’s new headquarters, a short distance from the attack.
I would imagine that Buckingham Palace would have also been put on lockdown as soon as the attack began. I don’t know the protocol, but in the Nuclear Age, I’m guessing that BP has some kind of fortified underground bunker, and maybe they made the Queen get in the bunker. As for William and Kate… I bet you they were in Norfolk. I bet Kate’s plan was to take the helicopter into London today. Harry, I bet, was already staying in London. Last we heard, Meghan Markle was visiting and she and Harry were holed up at Nottingham Cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace.
Now, was it the right move for Charles to just keep going on with his Newmarket tour? On one hand, what was he supposed to do, drop everything and drive back to London? Of course not. Part of me thinks that “just getting on with it” is a baller move – after a terrorist attack, people always say “don’t let this affect your daily life,” but Charles is really living that. He barely skipped a beat.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
We lived through decades of the IRA doing this to us. We are used to terrorist attacks. Keep calm and carry on. Blitz spirit and all that.
I think people of our generation are quite sanguine about terror disruptions because of that, LAK, don’t you? Not so much that there were so many bombs, but there WERE so many bomb SCARES. I must have been stuck on a Tube platform or outside a Tube station for ages a dozen times because of a bomb scare in days gone by. It seemed like a fact of life back then, didn’t it?
I was working in Harrods the second time it got bombed, and when I rung my Mum up to tell her I was ok she didn’t even know a bomb had gone off ! There was only a bit of minor damage, and one very shaken window dresser, to be fair.
I do remember a lot of bombs though, both Harrods ones, Hyde Park, Victoria Station, the Ideal Home exhibition, the bloke that blew himself up on the bus (by accident it transpired) John Lewis in Oxford Street. Canary Wharf, St Mary Axe etc…There were so many also a lot that were defused, I’ve probably forgotten loads of them,
Then later on the 7/7 ones. And of course as you say, the bomb scares.
Those bomb scares.
It’s quaint to think how they would phone those in, 10-15mins before they were supposed to detonate resulting in shut down and or stuck where ever you happened to be.
I’m still surprised to see waste baskets in the streets or on the tube these days because those were removed for obvious reasons.
I worked in a building off Tavistock Square when the bus exploded outside. The shock of that is sometjing i will never forget, but the emergency and security services were marvelous.
That’s how I remember it, LAK. Getting stuck, and everyone wondering – is it a bomb scare or is it a suicide?
I got stuck in town on the day of the London Bridge bombing. And I distinctly remember missing an important Wimbledon match on telly, which I was rushing home for, by getting stuck at Rayners Lane station, of all places, due to a bomb scare somewhere else up the line. It really wasn’t infrequent. But the IRA did issue warnings, so that is a very big difference.
I was stuck on a train for something like 3 hrs because of a security alert re a Queen & PP visit, the train went back to where it started. The IRA policy changed from bombing to threatening to bomb and cause maximum destruction.
Don’t mess with Brits and Londoners
Agreed. I grew up in London in the 80s and I remember bomb threats being a fact of life.
This is great, but not real unfortunately:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/mar/23/fake-tube-sign-read-out-bbc-westminster-attack?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
My parents lived through the guerrilla bombings in the 70s and they’re the most level headed people I’ve ever met. They act immediately without losing their heads, and they do so effectively. I’ve never been through anything like bombs or an attack but I really admire the “we will keep on as we are” attitude. I would be so scared.
However my school received bomb threats during the late 90s and I remember the alarms going off, all of us evacuating in a very precise way, going off to the Field for roll call, (us eldest sisters trying to catch our younger sisters’ forms to see if they were there), and waiting for things to develop. Only once did we have to be evacuated to our corresponding Safe Houses, but it made me respect and appreciate processes, systems, and rules.
I agree. They want fear. If you disagree with what they’re doing the best thing to do is to live your life.
I admire your fortitude. I recently read a New Yorker piece about Jean McConville and the IRA and was aghast anew at what that era must have been like.
The terror reaches such a crescendo that you lose the ability to be scared. Stunned. Sad for those who are caught up in it. Offer help where you can, and life goes on.
…but you find yourself being more watchful and skittish, yet remain hopeful that it’s only a scare and or no one was hurt.
LAK & Sixer,
One of my first thoughts at the news yesterday was about how entering Britain in the 90s as a visitor was an exercise in 12 layers of security, well before that was commonplace worldwide.
My deepest sympathies and thoughts are with you! Stay strong UK ❤
As for those Drumphettes, shame we can’t put them on mute.
My mother worked right next to one of the major London attacks in the 1980s. Oddly enough it was less scary in those days because no internet and no rolling news channels meant only those listening to radio knew it was happening, so the first I knew of it was hearing her on the phone to friends and family that night, assuring them she was okay.
When you grew up unable to leave bags in any left luggage areas, because all the train stations were permanently on alert for IRA terrorism, you are used to it. There was a nice decade or two where that fell away, but the last decade has felt pretty much back to normal service, rather than shocking. I appreciate it’s very different to people from the US, to whom this was totally new.
Yes to all of this. I forgot about the lack of waste bins that LAK mentioned above AND the left luggage as you say. I very much remember the endless standing around because something might be up but no internet so you had no idea what or where the threat was. Just more waiting. Most of the time, it felt more like being cheesed off by being in a car caught in a traffic jam than it felt like being afraid you were going to be blown up. Which sounds like a terrible thing to say when on many occasions people did die. Just that the whole thing was so commonplace.
The 3 terror attacks that still give me nightmares:
1. Hyde Park
2. 2005 tube and buses
3. Lee Rigby.
Speaking of the Rigby attack, i hope those ladies are living every blessing in this life and the next because what they did for him was so heroic and so brave and so selfless. There are no words to describe their actions adequately.
Shocking as always, when something like this happens. However, what we don’t need as an international response is Don Trump Jr tweeting dumb, passive aggressive shit to score points during a terrorist attack. Not only was it ill conceived, it was totally inaccurate and misrepresented what the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan actually said. Trust the trump boys to use this as an excuse to attack muslims.
I can’t adequately express my disgust with baby fists jr’s comments in response to this tragedy. Instead of solidarity for the Britishers’ bravery in the midst of tragedy, he feels the need to taunt the people who are standing strong against evil.
Baby fists Jr is despicable.
Unfortunately the apples haven’t fallen far from the tree. What I love (not really) is how just because Daddy is now POTUS they all (well, the oldest 3) think they are now some kind of experts when it comes to foreign affairs & policy (hell, domestic ones as well), and that their opinion is somehow important, relevant or even needed. I can’t stand that entire family.
My heart goes out to the city of London, and all the victims and victims’ families. Stay strong!
smcollins, yes, it’s infuriating that they think their opinions now matter. Yet the deplorables eat it up so the positive reinforcement keeps them going. It’s an endless cycle, seemingly.
I think the Trumps are trying to destroy the special relationship the US has with the UK. And f#ck that, we love the Brits here!
Justin Trudeau’s statement in the Canadian Parliament was much more appropriate.
Tweedledee’s tweet was disgusting as were the bigoted responses from the deplorables cheering him on.
Baby Fists’s own tweets about it left a lot to be desired. He seemed to be more concerned in letting everyone know he made a phone call than in offering condolences or reassurance, and, oh yes, letting us know Theresa May was just fine, because we were all so concerned about her well-being
I know, Trump was totally tone deaf as usual. His tweeting is just out of control.
He did the right thing, Charles I mean
Agree, Charles did the right thing.
The threat was in London, and specific to a certain area. It wouldn’t make sense to cancel his schedule.
There were more police around last night when I went home though obviously.
I’m not sure the Queen will be fulfilling that duty today as that area is still taped off and is being treated as a crime scene.
Charles did the right thing imo.
I agree. He did the right thing.
Yeap,
Thumbs up for Charles. I have always admired that in Britain your leaders encourage and model returning to daily life after bombings or bomb threats. I feel that in the US, our leaders want us to be afraid and live as traumatized victims. Especially war monger or war profiteers which is a disservice to the American spirit.
IMO, the Queen kept her standard (correct term?) flying high and her presence known because she’s tough and knows her duty is to stand with her people to the end. That’s what leaders of old did and that’s why regardless of how I feel about the monarchy, I will always have respect for her as a public servant. Charles at least picked this up from his mother. So yeah, God save the Queen and my heart goes out to our friends across the pond.
This is Charles during an assassination attempt. Whatever his faults, the man is not a coward and he is not work shy. It doesn’t surprise me at all that he went on doing business as usual.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e_GoHngOIE
Wow. Either he didn’t know what was going on or he has balls of steel.
Harley’s did an excellent job. The people who were awaiting his visit were treated as far more important than the terrorist.
The people who were harmed and killed by the terrorist deserve every bit of sympathy, and support for themselves and their families. But Charles was not in a place to provide that to them at the moment so I really think he did well with his decisions.
I just wanna say, Biebs should take lessons from
Prince Charles, who seems to manage the
Fans and their photographing with elegance.
Many wonderful people being wonderful yesterday, I think that is the takeaway.
Security services had the whole thing shut down double quick, so we can be certain that London is ready and capable. Passers-by offering help to the injured. Doctors and nurses from St Thomas’s literally running down the street to get to the injured. An actual government minister refusing to evacuate to safety and giving CPR to the policeman who sadly died.
I followed the news unfolding on twitter, and was impressed at how measured and clear headed everyone on the scene seemed to be. Even on twitter the sense of ordered chaos and Heroes rising up to the call in a sensible way was very palpable.
I understand that such a “seasoned pro” approach to a calamity did not come nowhere, world wars, IRA, etc. So many tragedies to build that tough indomitable shell, I wish it hadn’t been necessary, but it undoubtedly let to some of the most well-choreographed efforts in the face of calamity I’ve ever seen anywhere.
Yes, I agree, it warms My heart and reboosts faith
in humanity. My sincere condolences to those
who lost loved ones.
Yes, that British ‘get on with it’ attitude always comes out in times like this. I think the security services were just doing ‘practice runs’ a few weeks ago- apparently they do them regularly.
Lone wolves, as they call them, often slip through the security services net but the British Intelligence community is one of the most effective, efficient and highly regarded networks out there. I was reading just a few days ago that this is one of May’s big bargaining chips with the EU – they as a block rely on the intel that comes via MI6 etc…
My thoughts are with those who died, the injured and their families.
honestly, london always surprises me in the most touching ways. recently has been really hard for me to identify as british, being a first generation immigrant and all, but i always feel a londoner.
it was ridiculously upsetting yesterday. i often walk around that area.
This brings a tear to my eye. I believe the good guys do outnumber the bad, and this reaffirms my belief. Now I just need to convince my teenage son, who is becoming increasingly distressed about the state of the world.
Sixlet Minor also takes it all to heart and gets depressed and/or angry. Brexit has really messed with his state of mind as it is, now a terror attack. Kids really *feel* stuff, don’t they?
Sixer, they sure do. What’s upsetting my kiddo at the moment along with the terror attack is the claims of “fake news.” He’s saying it’s hard to know what to believe anymore — and it’s hard to disagree with him. And it doesn’t help that my credibility is gone after I assured him there was no way Trump would win the primary and then the general election. Sigh.
I think, when you are young, you are much more fixated on NOW and that dissipates somewhat as you get older and more experienced. So if NOW is bad, then EVERYTHING is forever bad.
I honestly don’t think there’s much we can do about it except for offer up small, immediate positive actions. Not to distract entirely but to get them to understand that they can resist and resistance can take many forms, big and small. Or show them that you’re resisting… um… trying to think of a US-based example. Something comes on the news about the Orange Abomination attacking civil liberties. You would have donated to ACLU anyway. So link the two in the child’s mind by firing up your laptop and making the donation in front of them – so what they see is you saying “That news item is outrageous but here’s what I’m doing about it.”
That’s how I try to manage it anyway.
Funny, Sixer, we’ve done the same thing with our donations. But I’m not sure if it’s comforting my son anymore — his cynical take is that no amount of donations can combat the evil that is the Trump administration. My next step is to encourage him to get out and volunteer more. I support a local non-profit that gives books to underserved kids and my husband volunteers regularly with a food bank distributing food to impoverished areas. Our teens are busy but I think if they made time to do this they might feel a bit better.
I think at least you can console yourself that you’re doing a good job – because he notices and cares. Parenting is hard, ain’t it? You want to build in resilience but how?
@Sixer one of the bits that made me cry was a tweet from Jake Morrison, who was in the lobby of Parliament, and he said: “School children are now singing in central lobby of parliament to cheer the mood up while we are all in lock down.” I just thought that was really lovely.
YES! Because of course, on any given day in Parliament there are hundreds of non-politicos there, including children – those of politicians in the nursery and those on school trips. The best thing about that report was that it was a normal day in Parliament and all our citizens have access to the centre of our democracy, including our children. They were there, it was all pretty crappy, so the kids had a singalong. I think that is what a free society looks like.
The great Mr Rogers always said in scary times, “look for the helpers.” I find this to hold true. Look to the helpers not just for the help they give but for the knowledge, the security, the comfort, that in horrible situations, people will rush to help.
Yes, people did their best yesterday and performed noble acts. We can and should take comfort in that and you Brits should take some pride in it too.
I think he did the right thing. The aim of terrorism is to strike fear into your heart that it incapacitates you and make you doubt even your own shadow, let alone other people even family members.
To suddenly cancel this or that due to fear is to play straight into their hands. There’s nothing Charles can do for the victims at that particular moment, he’s not a trained medic nor a trained psychologist. By all means come later when the chaos is reigned in a bit and he’s not stepping on any emergency people’s toes.
The only thing they can do is stand tall and say we are not afraid. Oh who am I preaching to, decades of IRA car bombs on top of the Blitz and all, have made tough men and women out of them.
I was mightily impressed that just one day after the London Blasts, lives went on as normal. It’s more than just British Upper Lip, I believe. It’s like the whole country made an effort to thumb their collective nose at those terrorists and shout MEH in ten foot red letters into the skies at them.
Charles definitely did the right thing; that was a good leadership decision. However, when these things happen, I really wish the focus would to go to the BRF who are among the best protected people on the planet. Let’s think of the policeman and others who lost their lives FIRST. I don’t care about Harry, William, Kate. They don’t matter at all in this instance.
Someone on twitter yesterday was all fretful about the Queen being at Buckingham Palace at the time. She’s hidden in a bunker somewhere with 20 walls and an army standing between her and anyone who’d try to get to her, while people are being ran over and stabbed in the street. If my husband, among so many other people, isn’t afraid to go into central London today, then honestly royals, with security services so vigilant over their safety, would have no excuse either.
Exactly. The people who happened to be on the scene helping out are the people we should be supporting. The royals have knee deep security. As for the Twitter person being fretful for the Queen, SMH.
The terrorist is being reported to be a British born male and yes, an Islamic extremist. Sigh…. to steal a meme I saw yesterday “Je suis sick of this sh*t”.
Parents of all faiths and ethnicities, please take a hard look at your sons. Whether it’s Islamic extremism or shooting up elementary schools and movie theatres some of you have sadly brought some serious garbage into the world. We need to start closer to home and much earlier if we have any hope of stopping this.
Interesting that you mention parents and sons. I recently read Sue Klebold’s book — she’s the mother of one of the Columbine killers. I was hoping for some more insight from her but instead got a defensive account about how she had no idea what he was planning. Even I could see red flags in some of the behavior she describes…but in her defense I can imagine that almost no parent would suspect that their child is is planning a mass murder.
I read an interview with her and I was fascinated and very sad. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be asked to think the worst of your son, but if she had thought the worst then maybe he would have been just a mentally troubled teen and not a mass murderer. Maybe he would have hated her but I think that would be easier than having the whole world look at you and think the world would be a much better place if you had never brought a child into the world.
I hear you. And I think you nailed the dynamic at play in their family — they really didn’t want Dylan to hate them so they gave him a pass on so many things. Perhaps because their older son was dealing with some real problems they wanted so badly that one son to be the perfect child that would reflect on them as good parents. Didn’t exactly work out. Really, really tragic.
And the funny thing is I was alone among my book group about this. I was surprised at how everyone else was so sympathetic to Mrs Klebold, I ended up feeling like a heartless monster for insisting that she missed some very obvious red flags and that things could have been different had they intervened more assertively.
@Mia4 “brought some serious garbage into the world” How dare you?? These boys were not garbage when they were born. Something in their lives brought them to these places where they are easily preyed upon. And/or have mental health issues and are unable to find help. My son has issues, and I could see him “rage out” one day. But can I find affordable help? No.
So just stop with the some of you have brought garbage into the world. You spew garbage out of your mouth. Hateful garbage at that!
@Shirleygail That must be an overwhelming position to be in – worrying for your son but unable to access help.
Where are you from? There are likely free services (albeit with long waits, or possibly a distance to travel for access) but schools, community health or social programs, and places of worship might be able to help you connect. If you’re seriously worried for his or others’ safety, even the police might be a resource, although depending on your race/location that may be a last resort.
You’re right that labeling people as garbage isn’t helpful. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for the families of those who lash out, and at the same time, it’s frustrating that the majority of lone wolf attackers tell at least one person about their plans before following through, yet no one alerts the authorities. If you can imagine this as a possibility in your son’s future, and you’ve reached the end of your resources, maybe it’s time to rally friends, family and community support?
I don’t know your situation, and likely you’ve already tried all this and more. All I can say is you have my compassion, and I hope you and your son find the supports you need.
Speaking just from personal experience here , as a sister, a daughter and a British Muslim woman I think more needs to be done on all levels to reach these boys before they turn into the men who commit these crimes. As much as it pains me to say our communities are so divided, and I think a lot of people feel like they can’t come forward. We need to start reaching out to the younger males who feel so disenchanted, so displaced that they turn to these extremist ideologies, and the older males preying on them , who twist them to think they have found somewhere to belong, because they feel they don’t belong here. I honestly believe members of my faith are just to blame for these divides too especially the older generations. They don’t see what it is to grow up nowadays in a modern Britain, feeling torn between the two almost, and I look to more moderate muslims like Sadiq Khan and just think we need more voices like this, who can bridge the gap… sorry I think this made more sense in my head .
Are you seriously excusing these monsters? Because boohoo they’ve had a tough life? Plenty of people have a tough life and somehow they manage not to commit terrorist attacks. There are no excuses for these assholes, none. And let’s stop with the “disenchanted and marginalized” rhetoric. The 9/11 terrorists were highly educated and all came from rich families. A lot of terrorists (Brussels, Paris) had a middle class background.
@myrto I don’t know if you are responding to me or the commenter above , but in no way was I making an excuse for anybody . I was answering a comment above about what was needed for more people to come forward about their sons who end up committing theses monstrosities . And, I stand by what I said. The animal yesterday was a British born Muslim , which means there are factors that need to be addressed if we are going to stop these acts happening more often in the future, and to halt the growing trend of British born muslims becoming fodder to use for these hate spreading terrorists. I can’t help but wonder though if you only accused me of making excuses because I labelled myself a Muslim? I really hope though that is just me reading too much into your words.
@Myrto I think you need to calm down. @Jaii wasn’t excusing the behavior of terrorists but explaining how a boy can be transformed into an extremist. We HAVE to have these conversations if we want anything to change.
Thank you @melly , I honestly read her reply with a feeling of nausea thinking that I may have come across that way. I like you think we do have to have these conversations as uncomfortable and difficult as they may be if we ever want to see real progress. I think if we can dig out the poison at the roots then and only then can we see real change , we need to stop it before it gets to the point where these boys become these men .
Jaii, I don’t think you came across as excusing the terrorists. At all. I agree with everything you said and think more people need to discuss this uncomfortable topic with such thoughtfulness and sensitivity. And “digging to the poison at the roots” is a very good way to put it when it comes to affecting change.
I’d add that better access to mental health services, along with breaking down the stigma associated with seeking treatment, are also needed. Going back to my Columbine example, I think the stigma associated with mental illness was a huge factor in why those boys didn’t get the help they clearly needed before they massacred their classmates.
@Jaii, I have young Muslim kids in my extended family. We are a majority Christian family (for lack of a better way to describe it). I know the kids get bullied in school sometimes, and that it’s escalated after the Tr*mp campaign began. I don’t live nearby, but my relatives that do just never even talk about the fact the Muslim hatred is going on. It’s completely ignored/erased. Everybody just talks about sports or neutral things when I see them together. I don’t see anyone asking at all how their last trip to see family in Iran went, what kinds of sightseeing they did on the trip, how their grandmother is doing healthwise, etc. So I imagine this really hurts the kids. I call and chat with their mother about their lives, just being supportive as I can at a distance. I guess what I’m trying to say is that the white Christian family of mine just won’t embrace the larger reality and warmly integrate our Muslim family members. This kind of treatment may contribute to some children in some places turning against the society they grew up in.
@esmom . Thank you, and you are right esp about the mental health points too, I’m 22 nearly 23 and I think where as women/girls we now talk a lot more about it, despite wonderful campaigns from charities put in place I believe for men/boys there is still a huge stigma attached in coming forward , and asking for help. Plus with the spending cuts the Conservatives have already dealt the Mental Health Service in the UK I don’t see that improving anytime soon
@ADASTRAPERASPERA I was born in Iraq and came to Britain as a child with my parents and brothers as asylum seekers so I relate to your comment very much esp about the growing up, and not feeling like you belong. I went threw that stage as a teenager, and felt torn between being the young British teenager I felt I was, and the memory I suppose of where I came from, and what I felt was expected from me from the community we lived in. I just honestly believe we need to talk , to listen, as cliche as it may be to build bridges especially in times like this when it seems a lot more okay to show your prejudices out in the open.
Jaii – I hear you.
I do think it’s up we parents to try our level best to bring up young people who feel safe and secure enough in themselves that they have as little vulnerability to radicalisation (whether that be Islamist, white supremacist or any other variety of extremism) as is humanly possible.
But parents can’t make it so that their children feel as though they belong to and are valued by the wider society. Only all of us in the wider society can do that.
It’s up to ALL OF US. It’s the responsibility of ALL OF US.
Sixer honestly this !!!! You said it so much better than I could 👏👏👏👏
Not just the sons. People need to pay attention to their daughters as well. Last year a report came out showing that the majority of ISIS recruiters online are actually women. Women are also capable of planning and doing harm to others. It’s kind of a twisted feminist point, but we shouldn’t underestimate the abilities of women to commit evil acts.
I agree totally with this . I think it’s all too easy to fall into the trap of blaming just the men , and over look the roles women are playing now, I know I still do.
I didn’t give a thought to HM or the BRF when I heard about the attack. All I could think about is the victims and their families. Such senseless violence is heartbreaking.
Exactly.
They’re not more important than other people just because they hold outdated titles.
Everyone’s story is sad but the Woman going to pick up her two kids who is now dead, and the Woman who ended up in the Thames…They really upset me the most for some reason.
Yes, esp when the footage was all over the net. The thing that really pissed me off was that people were going around taking selfies and photo’s of the injured. I saw quite a few photos of people doing that.
Those people are despicable. I can’t believe people are this thoughtless and have no compassion.
the police was telling people to stop posting them as well. i literally don’t understand what’s wrong with that lot.
I shook my head while watching this horror unfold on the news, seeing people taking selfies of the aftermath. It’s sick and highly disrespectful. I berated a couple of friends who went to place flowers in the tribute area in Sydney CBD after the Lindt Cafe siege, for taking selfies with the floral tributes behind them. Horrible, stupid, insensitive people.
My thoughts go out to the victims and their families.
I understand exactly how you feel shelley – the hideous quirk of fate that put her in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I know if she’d been on the other side of the road or running late…But that’s the same for every victim of an atrocity I suppose…
Islamic State have just claimed it. But they always do that if the terrorist dies. These people inspire terrorism in Western cities, they don’t organise it. That’s what I think.
It appears ISIS didn’t know of the attack in advance, they’re clasping at straws
That was my initial thought. They always claim attacks but I’m not sure they’re always *directly* behind it.
We were talking about the IRA above. Islamic State, I feel, is nothing like the IRA, who were properly organised with a command hierarchy, but they want us to think they are. Islamic State have their videos and their online groomers, but they are not organised. They just put the videos and the chatrooms out there and hope they inspire someone to commit a terrorist act.
That’s why they only claim the dead ones. The live ones have to go through trials, where it emerges there was no organised military-style structure behind what they did at all.
We saw that with the Tsarnaevs after the Marathon bombing. Tamerlan died but Djokar lived and the trial revealed that Tamerlan had tried to join but they rejected him and the bombing was something he plotted on his own and convinced his brother to join him.
Exactly. I mean, don’t think I underestimate the ideology. But I don’t see it as an organised fifth column at all. I think the grooming is organised but not the actual attacks. If that makes sense? I also think online grooming is the main force behind white supremacist terrorism. I see the two things as pretty much the same in the way they operate.
LIghtpurple, it’s funny you mentioned that Tsarnevs because I was just thinking about them on my way home from the gym in the context of this thread. I wonder what made Djokar go along with his brother versus questioning him and possibly even reporting what he was planning. I haven’t followed his story at all post bombing.
And Sixer, I think you’re exactly right about how Islamic State and white supremacists operate to draw people into their ideology.
I agree with you. They just take the credit. But now that Putin is mucking about so boldly, my mind jumps to wondering if he is organizing some attacks. I firmly believe he has infiltrated parts of ISIS and is getting them money/resources. Good god, I am sounding like a lefty version of InfoW*rs. Forgive my desperation at trying to fathom what the heck is going on with all this evil afoot right now.
I think that’s why they’re so hard to beat. You can’t intercept orders or a chain of command if there is none.
Exactly. Nobody could have forestalled that attack yesterday. Especially, as looks very possible, the only place it was planned was in the guy’s head. Security services can’t read minds or assign surveillance on every idiot that watches an IS video online. Or follow financing when there isn’t any financing. Or follow weapons trafficking when the weapons are cars and bread knives.
All you can do is ready your city for the response. And, as I said above, I think yesterday London established it had done just that.
The image that made me sick, is the woman under the bus. She was hit by the car then dragged under the bus. The mother who went to pick up her kids from school. Who takes a photo of that? Do you really think that’s the image her loved ones want to see of her last moments?
Agree michelle, the first instinct should be to help not to take a flaming photo.
wrong place
Ugh, another offshoot of our narcissistic, infantile culture. We are lucky someone didn’t post a selfie with her body.
I have a plan in my mind that if I’m ever near one of these situations I will:
First: help the victims any way I can and offer information to the police.
Second: if I spot anyone taking pictures of the victims with their phone rather than offering help or comfort,grab the phone out of their hand…and break their nose with it. 😡
If your first reaction to carnage is to take a selfie, I think you need to be checked into a mental hospital. Or at least have your cell taken away forever.
What really turned my stomach was trolls on twitter using the photo of that poor mother who was caught up in it on the school run, and surging ahead with Donald Trump Jnrs attack on Sadiq Khan to somehow implement him as someone to blame . They photoshopped his picture onto the photos, and all I could think of was her children , her family seeing her like, people honestly have no shame, humanity or compassion.
Trump Jrs comment yesterday was disgusting. He didn’t read the interview, which was 6 mths old, and appears to have misread the phrase “part and parcel”.
I’m curious, though, whether there were any murders in London yesterday or the day before. I fear falling into the trap of focusing all the energies on “terrorism” and the bad Muslims. This is exactly what the racists point to (case in point, Trump crowing about it yesterday). Not to say that these acts should be ignored, but they should be kept in perspective. Yesterday, a white supremacist was arrested in New York City for killing a Black man and planning to kill more. Are some types of lives more important than others? Are some forms of death more newsworthy than others? Again, not minimizing what happened in London – these are honest questions.
Yesterdays victims were not just white British people, the girl in the Thames was visiting from Romania. The Mother of two was Spanish, and it appears that many of the victims were tourists, including French school children who lost a School friend in the Bataclan atrocity.
The killing was indiscriminate, for all the killer knew he could have been mowing down fellow Muslims.
Its a newsworthy story.
I understand that that it’s a newsworthy story. But what about other people who weren’t killed by Muslims? Here in the US – just yesterday – we had a “shooter” who killed 4 people. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/officer-killed-tragic-wisconsin-shooting-spree-article-1.3006291
No constant stories, no “terrorist” label. I’m saying that maybe the media has a responsibility not to go down these rabbit holes with the rabid racists.
Well I can’t really comment on US news items, but a shooting in Wisconsin wouldn’t make the news over here unless someone famous was shot. Yesterdays act was a clear assault on our Parliament and on people of all colours, creeds and religions.
If the terrorist had been a white Irishman and this was 1977 or any other year when the IRA were active, I can assure it would have got the same coverage, in the British press anyway.
And I say this as the daughter of Irish, Catholic parents.
Any kind of murder with more than one victim would be very newsworthy in the UK. The only exception to that are domestic killings, like when a father kills his family. Not that that’s especially common, but it’s not particularly publicised because what is there to say.
I think murders by terrorism are always going to be of national and international interest, while domestic murders, which make up the bulk of murders, are always going to be of much more local interest.
If you are getting at white perp = sad loner with mental health issues, brown perp = international terrorist, I do think one could compare coverage of the assassination of Jo Cox by a far right terrorist last year with coverage of yesterday’s event, which appears to be Islamist terrorism. We will see what happens.
Actually, there were a couple of murders by shooting in London in the last week or so. Gun deaths are unusual in the UK, even in London. But the murder rate is still relatively low – about 100 murders a year in London compared with, for example, about 1,000 a year in NYC.
Thanks, Sixer. Getting the numbers puts things more in perspective. Even here, though, a brown shooter who kills a few people would get nationwide coverage, whereas a white shooter who kills more people is not seen as vile, but more – like you say – troubled.
A 1,000 murders a year in New York is staggering. In 2015 Canada had 604 homicides, our highest rate since 2011. I realize the States is 10X the population of Canada but that’s more than the whole country in just one state.
500-600 a year here in the UK. And about 20% of them are men murdering their partners or ex-partners.
@ Areyouforreal
An individual murderer is not a threat to the country/democracy as a whole,a terrorist attack is an attack on the whole country/democracy.
@dave – hmm. Are you saying that the level of organization/orchestration by ISIS (Islamist terrorist) is the real issue and not the killings themselves? if so, maybe I see what you mean.
@ AreYouForReal. No, what I am saying is that the individual murderer is just that and very rarely kills more than once. (Unless he is a serial criminal) . But the terrorist’s aim is not an individual but to attack the system (for want of a better word) of the whole democracy of the country. Regime change without election if you like.
Or put another way, our way of life is under more threat from terrorists than from individual murders.
The vast majority of murder victims know their killers. And by majority, I mean over 80%, so random killings tend to be more newsworthy. Mass killings are more newsworthy. And yesterday’s random mass killing of strangers occurred at the seat of British government, making it an attack on the nation.
Exactly. And interestingly, yesterday a US military bomb killed 30 civilians in Syria, who were taking shelter in a school. All Muslims were killed. But most of us here haven’t even heard of that in the media, there aren’t any prayer vigils or #PrayforSyria. Who cares if Muslims are getting killed, right? Another thing that those anti-Muslim people in the West refuse to realize that Daesh’s largest target has been fellow Muslims- they have killed, tortured and maimed more Muslims in Muslim countries than they have done to people living in the West.
This type of unequal treatment of honouring of people’s lives, this widespread sense of Muslim lives don’t matter, will keep feeding the sense of injustice and anger in Muslims living in the West and these are the prime targets for recruitment for those Daesh dogs.
A little something to lift the spirits:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/mar/23/fake-tube-sign-read-out-bbc-westminster-attack
Seriously.
I don’t think the Queen was “brave” but that she merely wasn’t warned in time.
I don’t believe she would have stayed in B.Palace if she had known about the attacks earlier.
No doubt these “news” were handed out by the Queen’s PR department. The Queen is desparately trying to look like a rock and as brave as her mother Queen Mum who refused to leave Buckingham Palace during WW2.
I don’t buy that Elisabeth 2 is “a rock” or “brave”. She didn’t even stand up for her own children let alone her petulant whiney grandson.
Apart from the general tenet of your post – she was probably safer in BP than anywhere, and would not have moved out if there had been any warning. The whole attack lasted how long?
I don’t think they would have moved the queen anyway not whilst they had no concrete idea of what was actually happening. Theresa May was moved because she was on the scene , but the Queen was safer where she was. As strange as it seems to say BP was probably the safest place for her to be yesterday. I’m a Londoner, and after incidents like this I often feel like there is no where safer to be than London itself .
You do know that she has been shot at during a parade, right? And that the family lost people in a terrorist bombing, right?
Seriously, bitchy? This is your takeaway from an American magazine centring the BRF during a terrorist attack that had nothing to do with it?
You think Buck House went to brief People magazine to big up the BRF in the aftermath of a terrorist event? I think People were idiotic to centre the BRF here but even me, a hardline Britisher republican, thinks that’s a completely ridiculous line to take. Buck House went nowhere near a People reporter yesterday, I’d bet my life on it.
BTW, the Queen was shot at during Trooping the Colour in the 1980s. She didn’t miss a beat and neither did her horse.
@ Sixer
Seriously?
Yes, really! Seriously!
“No doubt these “news” were handed out by the Queen’s PR department.”
This article is based on something that appeared in People magazine, a US publication. People clearly has no idea that Buck House being a mile from the Palace of Westminster might as well be a thousand miles and entirely unsecured, for all the risk the Queen was subject to. ER was in no danger and the idea that her PR flunkies would have reached out to an American gossip magazine to centre her in the story of a terrorist attack on the Houses of Parliament is absolutely, utterly, completely ludicrous. Did. Not. Happen.
And I speak as a Britisher who really disapproves of the monarchy with absolutely no desire to praise Mrs Windsor whatsoever.
Weren’t Elizabeth and Margaret also in London during WWII, with their parents? Trying to make QEII off as cowardly is wrong.
Not only that but Elizabeth joined the army as soon as she could.
Turns out that wasn’t true. Elizabeth and margaret were safely at Windsor whilst the QM was telling the world that they were at BP.
Later the Queen joined the army, but she was primarily at Windsor.
@ bitchy
What exactly did you expect a 90 year old to do during a terrorist attack which was probably over before she knew what was happening?
And wasn’t “warned in time?” Don’t think anyone was “warned in time”. The Queen wouldn’t be desperately trying to “look” like anything. But no doubt she was extremely concerned for those people who were caught up in this attack. As are the rest of us.
I am so sorry this happened, my thoughts are with the families who lost loved ones.
I think Charles did the right thing. 3 blocks from my house, there was a bomber caught. He detonated the bomb in a cab, and injured the driver. He was on his way to a crowded mall in a city about 30 minutes from us. He was picked up by the cab 1/2 block from our public library, the same library we go to every week, that I send my daughter to every week to volunteer. She still goes. I worry every moment, we are a town of 21 thousand! and yet, not 3 blocks from my house this happened.
So yes, I I think Charles did the right thing 🙁
This guy was shot at once, in public, and all he did was squint to see who it was, and adjust one of his cufflinks. He will carry on, just like almost everybody else.
That is classic Keep Calm from Charles. If someone is going to shoot him from a crowd, not much he can do about it, so keep keeping on.
That’s a very pragmatic approach. Or Anne trying to kick her would be kidnapper or assailant and refusing to step out of the car? They’re either born out of steel or conditioned from an early age to be like that. Perhaps they’re both.
Can imagine Anne telling the kidnapper to Naff off!
@Cee, i didn’t know the story and i googled it immediately! thank you!
i didn’t know what i was expecting, but what i read, was definitelg not it!
definitely it was interesting to read the “heated” conversation that happened. either it was due to editing, or the whole thing really unfolded in a by-and-large gentlemanly manner:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/bloody-attempt-kidnap-british-princess-180950202/
Anne and Cpt Philips held on to their side of the door so Anne’s LIW could escape from the opposite side!
the most cordial of kidnapping (unless you count three people who ended up taking the bullet from the attacker): “Please, come out,” said Ball to Anne. “You’ve got to come.”
one rescuer was the quintessential gentleman. “Don’t be silly, old boy,” he said. “Put the gun down”
by this point, i began to realize thst the lack of screaming and the lack of shoot-first-ask-later-if-still-alive guns blazing charge is really not action film material.
the only recorded curse, “not bloody likely”, came from HRH, who also let her kidnapper slip away “Go on, now’s your chance” (he was caught in the end)
and then the touching finale:
In a 2006 interview, Ronald Russell recalled what Queen Elizabeth said as she presented his George Cross medal: “The medal is from the Queen of England, the thank you is from Anne’s mother.”
Charles as a person is not that great, but as Prince of Wales he’s pretty fantastic.
Very well put, Tess.
The Queen seems to be a hard worker and cares about her “job” (I’m an American, so my knowledge of her is limited). HOWEVER, I absolutely disagree with the implication that the lives of the Queen, her family members, or even our American politicians are any more important than a random civilian on the street. I would says politicians are LESS important because there are almost no “qualifications” required to do the job. The royal family gets the job by accident of birth. “Qualifications” for American politicians are usually just: (1) age, and (2) citizenship/residency — and that’s it. Yet we spend so much money and effort trying to keep politicians safe, while, for example, a school teacher is ignored. Just one of my pet peeves.
How are politicians ‘less important’ when, in a representative democracy such as the UK or US, they hold the symbolic power of speaking for thousands of their constituents? To try and attack an MP or representative is not just to attack an individual, parent, child etc. but also to attack the ability of her constituents to have their voices heard through their MP.
Politicians are the most easily replaceable people, because their qualifications are so low (only age and residency/citizenship – no particular knowledge, training, education, etc. required).
In happier royal-ish news, Hyacinth Bucket has been made a Dame. Honors to Patricia Routledge of Keeping up Appearances. Sheridan must be so pleased.