Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Terror! Terror! Terrified yet?
The news media are finally reporting on a BNP man who stockpiled explosives in his house and fantasised about killing Tony Blair and John Prescott. Hey, we can relate... However, this has been 'news' for several months, as this man was arrested last autumn but, other than a regional newspaper's report which then got distributed liberally amongst British bloggers, there has been something of a self-imposed media blackout over this story. When the BBC were asked why they weren't reporting on what was a bona case of British men who were apparently prepared to take part in acts of terrorism they replied they didn't want to prejudice any future court case.
I'm sure Mohammed Abdulkahar and Abul Koyair could relate. They were, after all, two Muslim men arrested in a highly publicised raid by the police on a house in Forest Gate that they thought was the nerve centre of possible terrorist activity. The media devoted considerable time to this over the next few days, until the police quietly admitted that it was all a mistake and let the two men go. By this time their names and photos had been liberally printed and shown on screen, while Robert Cottage and David Jackson, the BNP men, were ignored.
Anyway, the two men complained to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, the people that decided the police were justified in shooting Jean Charles de Menezes in the head. Luckily the IPCC had stocked up on whitewash in preparation and announced that the police were fully justified in doing whatever they want because they're the police. They threw the two men two small bones, upholding piddling complaints about their food and pain killers (due to the fact the police shot one of them in the arm) and suggesting the police should consider apologising. Apparently the police training manual doesn't cover being magnanimous in victory, as according to the Daily Mail, the police are refusing to apologise to the two men. The police are claiming they've apologised three times already but none of their apologies are to the two men for arresting them as terrorism suspects and allowing their pictures to be circulated to the media.
Robert who? David what?
The Sun are reporting on the BNP plotters story but notably describes neither of these men as terrorists or would-be terrorists. Unlike some of their other news stories they aren't offering readers the chance to discuss the story either. The t-word does get used, though only once, in their report on the IPCC story, which shows how half-hearted their momentary concern about racism actually was.
The news media are finally reporting on a BNP man who stockpiled explosives in his house and fantasised about killing Tony Blair and John Prescott. Hey, we can relate... However, this has been 'news' for several months, as this man was arrested last autumn but, other than a regional newspaper's report which then got distributed liberally amongst British bloggers, there has been something of a self-imposed media blackout over this story. When the BBC were asked why they weren't reporting on what was a bona case of British men who were apparently prepared to take part in acts of terrorism they replied they didn't want to prejudice any future court case.
I'm sure Mohammed Abdulkahar and Abul Koyair could relate. They were, after all, two Muslim men arrested in a highly publicised raid by the police on a house in Forest Gate that they thought was the nerve centre of possible terrorist activity. The media devoted considerable time to this over the next few days, until the police quietly admitted that it was all a mistake and let the two men go. By this time their names and photos had been liberally printed and shown on screen, while Robert Cottage and David Jackson, the BNP men, were ignored.
Anyway, the two men complained to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, the people that decided the police were justified in shooting Jean Charles de Menezes in the head. Luckily the IPCC had stocked up on whitewash in preparation and announced that the police were fully justified in doing whatever they want because they're the police. They threw the two men two small bones, upholding piddling complaints about their food and pain killers (due to the fact the police shot one of them in the arm) and suggesting the police should consider apologising. Apparently the police training manual doesn't cover being magnanimous in victory, as according to the Daily Mail, the police are refusing to apologise to the two men. The police are claiming they've apologised three times already but none of their apologies are to the two men for arresting them as terrorism suspects and allowing their pictures to be circulated to the media.
Robert who? David what?
The Sun are reporting on the BNP plotters story but notably describes neither of these men as terrorists or would-be terrorists. Unlike some of their other news stories they aren't offering readers the chance to discuss the story either. The t-word does get used, though only once, in their report on the IPCC story, which shows how half-hearted their momentary concern about racism actually was.
Labels: BNP, British National Party, Independent Police Complaints Commission, IPCC, media, news, News International, newspapers, police, racism, terrorism, The Sun
