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2017 Westminster Terror Thread
Topic Started: Mar 22 2017, 12:01 PM (630 Views)
Webster
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.......there are reports coming in over the wire of an apparent terrorist incident right outside or in the vicinity of the Houses of Parliament in London....

(The Guardian) Reports of shooting at House of Commons
--There are reports of a shooting at the Commons

--Man shot in entrance to the Commons. Appears to be a policeman down too (Jason Groves, Daily Mail - 22 March 2017)
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Webster
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(The Guardian) Nigel Farage has used the London terror attack as a reason to justify Donald Trump’s travel ban on travellers from Muslim-majority countries as he appeared on Fox News to claim it showed there should be more vetting of migrants.

The former Ukip leader appeared on the US network in the early hours of the morning to blame politicians who embrace multiculturalism and uncontrolled immigration from Middle Eastern countries for “inviting in terrorism”. He said it was a reason for US citizens to stop protest against Trump’s travel ban, even though Theresa May has confirmed police believe the attacker was British born. He said: We’ve made some terrible mistakes in this country, and it really started with the election of Tony Blair back in 1997, who said he wanted to build a multicultural Britain.

His government even said they sent out search parties to find immigrants from all over the world to come into Britain. Do you know what? I don’t think we vetted a single one of them.

The problem with multiculturalism is that it leads to divided communities. It’s quite different to multiracialism. That’s fine, that can work very happily and extremely well. But we’ve finished up with very divided communities.

I’m sorry to say that we have now a fifth column living inside these European countries. Surely an American audience seeing this horrendous thing happening in Westminster should start to say to itself that when Donald Trump tries to put in place vetting measures, he is doing it to protect your country.

Frankly, all those people out protesting in Fifth Avenue in New York and elsewhere need to have a good, long hard think about what they are doing.

Frankly, if you open your door to uncontrolled immigration from Middle Eastern countries, you are inviting in terrorism.

I do actually think that the moment has come for us to actually point the blame. What these politicians have done in the space of just 15 years may well affect the way we live in this country over the next 100 years.


Victoria Ayling, a Ukip heritage and tourism spokesman, also retweeted a series of inflammatory posts about “challenging the West’s Muslim’s problem” and a need for “action against Islam”.
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Webster
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--My heart goes out to the victims and their families in London. No act of terror can shake the strength and resilience of our British ally. (Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States - 23 March 2017)
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Webster
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(The Guardian) Poland’s prime minister became the first senior European leader to draw a link between the London attack and the European Union’s migrant policy, saying the assault vindicated Warsaw’s refusal to take in refugees.

Poland’s government has refused to accept any of the 6,200 migrants allocated to it under the European Union’s quota scheme that is designed to share the burden of taking in the large numbers of migrants and refugees who have come to Europe over the past two years.

“I hear in Europe very often: do not connect the migration policy with terrorism, but it is impossible not to connect them,” Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo told private broadcaster TVN24.

The EU’s migration commissioner, Dimitris Avramopoulos, on a visit to Warsaw, warned member states against failing to host refugees to help alleviate pressure on frontline states bearing the brunt of arrivals across the Mediterranean.

“The commissioner should concentrate on what to do to avoid such acts as yesterday in London ... Poland will not succumb to blackmail such as that expressed by the commissioner,” Szydlo said.

“The commissioner is coming to Warsaw and trying to tell us: you have to do what the EU decided, you have to take these migrants .... Two days later another terrorist attack in London occurs,” she said.
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Webster
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(The Guardian) Denis Campbell, our health policy editor, has just sent this....
--The boss of the NHS today lauded the “immense personal bravery” and vital role played by health service personnel across the capital who helped the casualties from yesterday’s attack.

Speaking at an event in the City of London, Simon Stevens said: I would like to just start, given what happened, the terrible events of yesterday afternoon, by using this opportunity to thank the staff across the NHS in London who responded so brilliantly to the terrorist outrage in Westminster.

The fact is that this was not just paramedics and ambulance crew but staff from St Thomas’ hospital running across Westminster Bridge into potential danger. I think that really demonstrates not only the professional skill of all our staff across the NHS but also immense personal bravery.


Stevens marked one minute’s silence for the victims of the attack alongside staff who oversaw the NHS response from its London Incident Coordination Centre, which was activated as soon as news came through about 2.30pm on Wednesday.

In all 68 paramedics and ambulance crew personnel from the London ambulance service were involved in the response to the attack. and casualties were treated at five London hospitals: St Mary’s, Chelsea & Westminster, King’s College, Royal London and St Thomas’.
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Webster
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(The Guardian) The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, offered his condolences to Theresa May for the attack. In a statement released by the Kremlin, he said: Terrorist attacks are becoming increasingly cunning and cynical. It is obvious that all members of the international community should join forces to stand up against the terrorist threat.
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Webster
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(The Guardian) Here’s more from Jason Burke on the language used in the Isis propaganda and on British-born extremists: “Soldiers” responding to the call is used to describe people such as Omar Mateen, who opened fire in a nightclub in Florida last year and who claimed allegiance to Isis during the attack without any prior contact with the group.

Other terms are used to describe attackers such as those who made up the Paris/Brussels network who, for the most part, were trained, commissioned and dispatched by Isis planners after spending time in Syria.

The vast majority of attackers are local – many born in the countries they attack in, or at least naturalised citizens or long-term residents. Same in France, with a couple of recent exceptions, and elsewhere in Europe.

The idea that terrorists systematically fly thousands of miles to infiltrate and strike is a fallacy – though it does occasionally happen. 9/11 set up this idea, but was an anomaly.

The Isis claim was issued in English, Arabic, French and German. Yes, it was aimed at “enemy” but aimed at supporters too. Isis needs to boost morale. It’s motto is “to endure and expand”.

It’s done precious little of either recently, so needs to make a point to potential and actual sympathisers and militants already in ranks who may be losing heart.
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Webster
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(The Guardian) The injuries suffered by an Irish person in the Westminster terror attack are not life-threatening, the republic’s parliament has been told.

As the Press Association reports, the deputy prime minister, Frances Fitzgerald, revealed the victim’s condition as she described the murders in central London as a “cowardly act”.
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Webster
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--#Breaking Westminster Bridge reopened less than 24 hours after Wednesday's attack, police on duty in the area confirm (UK Press Association, 23 March 2017)
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Webster
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(The Guardian) The Ukip leader, Paul Nuttall, has put out a lengthy statement about the attack saying that Muslim communities “must do far more” to combat extremism. He said:

Muslim communities must do far more to cut this cancer out of their midst. We need a more rigorous and assertive official approach on this. There should be no more pussyfooting around agonising whether ‘Prevent’ strategies risk stigmatising people. Muslim citizens – just like non-Muslim ones – need to know it is simply unacceptable to be aware of radicalisation but to withhold information from the authorities.

He did not acknowledge that the Muslim Council of Britain had condemned the attack strongly, first in a statement issued yesterday soon after the attack happened, and again.
-Read more: http://www.ukip.org/fine_words_are_not_enough_we_must_take_action
-Read more: http://www.mcb.org.uk/westminster-attack/
-Read more: http://www.mcb.org.uk/westminster-attack-call-for-solidarity-and-prayer/
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Webster
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(The Guardian) Some more details are emerging about some of the injured. Italy’s ambassador Pasquale Terracciano says she has visited an Italian woman in hospital who lost consciousness for about 10 minutes after being struck by the car’s bumper.

The woman, a tourist from Rome, underwent surgery for a compound leg fracture. She also suffered a less serious injury to two of her vertebrae near her neck, and head trauma.

The German foreign office has also confirmed that among those injured yesterday is a female German citizen – no more information than that yet.

The number of different nationalities tells you a lot about the location of the attack – and London as a city. A diverse, multicultural city which attracts so many different people from around the world to visit, work and make their homes.
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(The Guardian) Third victim named as US tourist Kurt Cochran
--An American tourist from Utah has been named as the third victim of the Westminster Bridge attack, Kurt Cochran. His wife Melissa is still in hospital, according to her sister.

In a public post on Facebook, her sister wrote: SO, SO SORRY to inform everyone - Kurt has passed away from the injuries he received during the attack in London.

My sister, Melissa, has a broken leg, a broken rib, and a cut on her head.

While we are glad she survived, our hearts are broken and will never be the same after losing our dear uncle, brother-in-law, father. Kurt, you are a HERO, and we will never forget you.
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Webster
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(The Guardian) Tom Brake, a member of the House of Commons Commission and the former deputy leader of the Commons, told the Guardian that he thought the review of security at the Palace of Westminster would focus on Carriage Gates, the gates used by the attacker yesterday. Brake said: There is the Carriage Gates issue. That is the weak point within the boundary of the Palace of Westminster. I can’t preempt what any review is likely to find but I would be surprised if there weren’t attempts to direct traffic through the Black Rod entrance because traffic there is channelled through very heavy barriers. That will create no doubt some congestion problems and once they are in the parliamentary estate they would have to drive through so it would not be without an impact. But it is hard to see how a gate that can be opened to provide access to cars as quickly as Carriage Gates is not always going to create a security risk.

MPs have long been aware that security at Carriage Gates could be better. The authorities have recently been working on something called the “New Palace Yard security enhancement project”, which will include replacing temporary galvanised barriers at the entrance with a stronger vehicle barrier. A business case was meant to be approved in February 2017 and work is due to start by the end of 2017, after planning permission is obtained from Westminster Council.
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Webster
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(The Guardian) Kurt Cochran's family say he was a 'good man and loving husband'
--The family of Kurt Cochran have issued a statement, through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, after the American tourist was identified as the third victim of the attack in Westminster.

The couple were scheduled to fly back to the US today. Melissa Cochran’s parents are currently LDS missionaries in London.

Clinton Payne, Melissa’s brother, said in a statement: Our family is heartbroken to learn of the death of our son-in-law, Kurt W Cochran, who was a victim of Wednesday’s terrorist attack in London. Kurt was a good man and a loving husband to our daughter and sister, Melissa.

They were in Europe to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary and were scheduled to return to the United States on Thursday.

Melissa also received serious injuries in the attack and is being cared for in the hospital. We express our gratitude to the emergency and medical personnel who have cared for them and ask for your prayers on behalf of Melissa and our family.

Kurt will be greatly missed, and we ask for privacy as our family mourns and as Melissa recovers from her injuries.
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Webster
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(The Guardian) I’ve been speaking to Labour sources in the House of Lords, where there were clearly some concerns about the way yesterday’s incident was handled.

Lady Angela Smith, Labour’s leader in the Lords, the chief whip Steve Bassam and their staff, were holed up there for a considerable period. For much of that time, they were reliant on tweets from journalists for information about the incident.

“We heard the gunfire and were immediately told to get away from the windows at the front of the building – and then we spent two hours on the corridor, not really knowing what was happening other than from social media,” said the source, who added that they had worked with the Conservative leader Lady Evans and her team to maintain a calm atmosphere among peers, some of whom had witnessed the events.

It was unclear at that point whether there was another attacker still at large. Black Rod, the senior parliamentary official best known for knocking on the door of the Commons at the state opening of parliament, liaised with the parliamentary authorities as peers struggled to find out what was going on. Later, Smith and others moved to their offices – and remained there until the lockdown of parliament was lifted, about five hours later.
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(The Guardian) An army veteran who was among the first on the scene of the Westminster attack has told how he tried to save the life of murdered police officer Keith Palmer.

Tony Davis, who is now a GB Boxing coach, jumped over a barrier and tried to intervene moments after the officer was attacked.

Davis, from Darlington, told ITV’s This Morning he was leaving parliament following a press event with a group of boxers when he saw the attack taking place.

There were people running, coming round towards the gate. All of a sudden I saw a large chap brandishing two knives come through the gates and start attacking the policeman.

At that point instinct kicked in, I leapt over the fence because that guy needed assistance.

The police were holding their ground and that is when poor Keith got attacked. You start moving back with adrenaline pumping in.

At this point the assailant was coming towards us and I recall, out of the corner of my eye, one of the marksmen coming out and putting three rounds in him.


Appearing on the show without shoes on because they are still being cleaned, Davis told how he rushed in to give the officer CPR, saying: I just knew he was in a great deal of difficulty. Everything happened so quick, but my natural instinct was to get over there and give some assistance if need be. Initially, when he fell to the ground I tried to have a look at him and put him in the recovery position and check his pulse.

Davis said Palmer had wounds to his head, arm and another under his rib cage.

About 90 seconds into it another guy called Mike came and joined in and at this time there were lots of police around, Keith’s colleagues. Three and a half minutes was when the MP [Tobias Ellwood] came in and sort of took over CPR.
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