Though notable to some for exposing the profound difference between how United Kingdom police officers respond to a single individual wielding a knife as compared to their American counterparts, a violent attack in London’s Tube on Saturday night has also spawned an emerging social media hashtag which seeks to combat the reactionary display of Islamaphobic rhetoric seen rising across Europe and the U.S.in recent years.
Advertisement
An onlooker standing near a pool of blood shouted the colloquial phrase that has swiftly become a popular Twitter hashtag #YouAintNoMuslimBruv and is meant to deny that such an attack could have anything to do with Islam.
The Prime Minister said the man had done “much better than I ever could” in denouncing the use of Islam to justify terrorist attacks.
The attack came just days after Britain’s Parliament approved airstrikes on Syria; the first began last Thursday. Britain is on its second-highest security alert level of “severe”, meaning a militant attack is considered highly likely, though not imminent. The United Kingdom has however been receiving more and more stepped up threats from ISIS due to the recent addition of British fighter planes to the airstrike of Middle Eastern countries suspected of housing ISIS militants.
According to police, a 29-year-old man allegedly shouted “this is for Syria” before stabbing a man and threatening others with a knife before police subdued the attacker with a stun gun.
Mr Mire appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court this morning charged with attempted murder. The victim suffered “serious” stab wounds but is in a stable condition in an east London hospital, police said.
Advertisement
“We are treating this as a terrorist incident”, CTC leader Richard Walton said. “Following Saturday’s incident, we are now deploying still more officers in this role”. The court heard he underwent five hours of surgery following the attack.
