The Woolwich Murder

I was in Woolwich on that day. 22 May 2013. I live there. Fortunately, I was safely in our flat at 2:20pm. I was oblivious anything had happened. Then, helicopters kept circling around and around, and the sounds of distant sirens could be heard. However, after nearly a year of living there, I've become immune to that. Then I read a strange Tweet that stated that something had happened in Woolwich. No more than that. I went to Google. Two men had been shot after brandishing swords, barely a ten minutes walk away.

Telling it from my point of view is not interesting in the slightest. However, I haven't stopped thinking about it. Especially since I found out, many hours later, that it was being classified as an act of terrorism, and that they had beheaded a serving soilder. Those pictures on the television that evening will forever be imprinted in my brain. There has been much discussion as to whether that picture of Michael Adebolajo, the man with bloodied hands holding the meat cleaver, speaking to the camera, should have ever been used. They were distressing for me, let alone a young child walking past a newsagents on the way to school the next morning.

Of course, a few days later, when that same footage is shown, his hands are pixelated out. As is the body which lays in the middle of the road; another picture which was readily used by newspapers and broadcasters. Were they right to use those horrific images, seeing as they might offend? Well, yes. For one, that same images were all over Twitter and such. The Internet now means that it is hard for journalists to be the gatekeepers of horrific images. They would have looked daft to not use them, and it would fuel the argument of them being an outdated medium.

Secondly, the events that happened were atrocious, barbaric and unusual. We needed an explanation. That image is a still from a video in which he attempts to put across his message, and 'justify' his actions. On the other hand, the media are seen to be playing into the attackers bloody hands, in both spreading his message and giving it publicity, but there was no way this could have just been ignored.

Unfortunately, these images have been so emotive and powerful, and they have spread resentment and hatred for Muslims. There have been so many reports of racial hatred in the past few days. Mosques have been subject to attack and abuse, by the elderly and the young. A restaurant burnt because of the race of those who own it. People have been arrested because of abuse shared by idiots on social media. I have reported (and unfriended) two Facebook users on the grounds that their statuses were offensive. A whole religion condemned because of the actions of two extremists, and because some people are ill-informed, pinheaded, dim-witted, moronic ignoramuses.

All those people have chosen to ignore the fact that everyone has condemn the actions. No-one will agree that doing it in the name Allah, or any other religious figure, excuses those actions. The fact that is was apparently an 'eye for an eye' for the actions of soldiers in Afghanistan is inexcusable either. Does any Afghan really want that? One of my journalism lecturers worded it perfectly on Twitter:

The breathtaking arrogance of appointing yourself an Afghan citizen while in the middle of doing a murder.
— Graham Barnfield (@GrahamBarnfield) May 23, 2013

One of the strangest bits about the story, was the fact that these two Londoner's didn't flee. Instead they hung around, talking to people filming on their camera, apologising to women for having to witness what they done, and of course waiting around for the police to finally arrive.

It is, and obviously so, easy to focus on the negatives of this story. Of course, a man who served for our country was so brutally murdered. But it also showed the greatness that our citizens have, we hope those people representative of the majority. The following is a quote from The Guardian, reporting the actions of one woman:

"At the scene of Wednesday's killing in Woolwich, Ingrid Loyau-Kennet got off a bus and spoke to the two killers, seemingly concerned only to keep them calm and stop them hurting anybody else. In photographs taken by other witnesses, we see her standing just a few feet away from a man holding a huge knife."

We should be focusing on this story. And the story of the two teenagers who went to the aid of the serviceman after the two men left him be. These show the human race as caring individuals. However, the truth about the British shines through in the video too. During Michael's preaching video, multiple people are seen to be walking around him, emotionless and just trying to go about their normal day and walk into town. It's as if two parallel universes have collided, and they can't see each other.

The crux of the story now revolves around the man they slaughtered. Drummer Lee Rigby was just 25, with a wife and young child. He had served across the world, including Afghanistan, Cyprus and Germany, and he apparently died because he was outside the Army Barracks wearing a Help For Heroes jumper. That is sad. What was really sad was the press conference his family held on the Friday, in which they revealed their heartache, and talked about how amazing the man was. Now the news wants to prove this. ITV done this on Friday by showing CCTV of him going to a local Woolwich takeaway, which he regularly went to. Obviously, that's relevant...

On the whole, I feel I have added nothing to this debate. I have tried to be careful not to pretend to be an expert in social behaviours or religion. That has been covered in great detail elsewhere on the Internet. I just wanted to add my view to the sea of opinion. All I hope is that people start being lovely and stop being ignoramuses.