London mayor Sadiq Khan told reporters that diversity is one of the British capital’s strengths in the wake of the London Bridge attack, and that all great cities are targets for terrorists.
“Look, I’m mayor of the greatest city in the world, and one of our strengths is our diversity,” he told reporters shortly the attack by Usman Khan, a convicted radical Islamic terrorist who had been freed from prison on a tag after serving less than half of a 16-year term, which left two dead and three injured.
“But we do know there are people out there who hate out diversity, hate what we stand for, and are trying to seek to divide us”, he added — although his grounds for appearing to suggest that terrorists despise Britain for being diverse were unclear.
Mayor Khan then flirted with controversy with a statement echoing an earlier, infamous former claim of his with respect to terror attacks — i.e. that “part and parcel of living in a great global city is you’ve got to be prepared for these things” — by telling reporters: “Look, I know, speaking to colleagues around the world, mayors of other great cities, that we’re all targets for terrorists.”
Watch This Previously Unimaginable ‘Backward Finish’ Where Olympic Skier Wins by… Skiing Backwards Across Finish Line
Transit funding hits record highs as ridership languishes, new report questions return on billions
Guthrie Kidnapping Update: FBI Discovers Apparent Link to Kidnapping 2 Miles from Victim’s Home, DNA Results Already Coming In
Hiker dies near summit of New York’s tallest peak after slipping off trail
Rubio seals civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Hungary
Savannah Guthrie releases video marking two weeks since mom’s disappearance and more top headlines
Flashback: That Time Corey Feldman Warned The View About Hollywood Child Sex Abuse and Was Scolded for It
Nancy Mace proposes bill to make aliens deportable, inadmissible for animal cruelty
WaPo Eats Crow For Reporting White House Didn’t Announce Something Trump Literally Put On Truth Social
DOJ antitrust shake-up reflects effort to define ‘MAGA antitrust’ after Slater exit
Partial government shutdown drags on as DHS funding talks stall
Ken Paxton sues Dallas over alleged failure to fund police as required by Proposition U
Burglary theory in missing Guthrie case ‘ridiculously rare’ says law enforcement source
New Mexico mother accused of drowning newborn in portable toilet after giving birth
California mom convicted after son dies in hot car while mother got lip fillers: ‘Defendant chose her looks’
Some critics of the Mayor of London have suggested that such attacks only appear to be a feature of life in cities such as London, while in a relatively homogenous place like the Japanese capital of Tokyo they are exceedingly rare — although not entirely unknown.
London Bridge killer Usman Khan was a convicted terrorist released from prison after judges changed his "public protection" sentence. Public protection sentences were scrapped by the Tories and deemed unlawful in a European court ruling. https://t.co/p5wfe2BhUK
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) November 30, 2019
Mayor Khan went on to say that London would have suffered even more deadly terror attacks like the one perpetrated by Usman Khan if not for the efforts of the authorities, confirming that “since the four terror incidents in 2017, because of the excellent work that police and the security services and because of the intelligence provided by members of the public, we’ve thwarted more than twenty attempts at terrorism on innocent citizens”.
Watch This Previously Unimaginable ‘Backward Finish’ Where Olympic Skier Wins by… Skiing Backwards Across Finish Line
Transit funding hits record highs as ridership languishes, new report questions return on billions
Guthrie Kidnapping Update: FBI Discovers Apparent Link to Kidnapping 2 Miles from Victim’s Home, DNA Results Already Coming In
Hiker dies near summit of New York’s tallest peak after slipping off trail
Rubio seals civil nuclear cooperation agreement with Hungary
Savannah Guthrie releases video marking two weeks since mom’s disappearance and more top headlines
Flashback: That Time Corey Feldman Warned The View About Hollywood Child Sex Abuse and Was Scolded for It
Nancy Mace proposes bill to make aliens deportable, inadmissible for animal cruelty
WaPo Eats Crow For Reporting White House Didn’t Announce Something Trump Literally Put On Truth Social
DOJ antitrust shake-up reflects effort to define ‘MAGA antitrust’ after Slater exit
Partial government shutdown drags on as DHS funding talks stall
Ken Paxton sues Dallas over alleged failure to fund police as required by Proposition U
Burglary theory in missing Guthrie case ‘ridiculously rare’ says law enforcement source
New Mexico mother accused of drowning newborn in portable toilet after giving birth
California mom convicted after son dies in hot car while mother got lip fillers: ‘Defendant chose her looks’
“[W]hat’s really important is we all remain vigilant,” he warned, adding that “If anyone sees anything suspicious please report it to the police. Err on the side of caution, I’d rather people overreport to the police and the experts than under-report,” he said.
The Labour politician also praised the heroism of the have-a-go heroes who tackled Usman Khan armed with nothing but their bare hands, a fire extinguisher, and a narwhal tusk, as well as the emergency services, saying that “What was amazing about today, was we saw in one individual, the suspect, the worst of humanity, but we also saw in the response from members of the public but also our emergency services the very vest of humanity.”
“[T]he message I want to send… is we are resolute, we stand united in the face of terrorism, and we will not allow anybody to divide us,” he insisted.
The footage of bystanders – one armed with a fire-extinguisher and a Polish chef with a narwhal tusk – tackling the London Bridge attacker is simply remarkable. Incredible courage. https://t.co/a85D6Up7JA
— Richard Chambers (@newschambers) November 30, 2019
Story cited here.
