Yesterday, Tuesday the 13th of June 2023, three people were killed and three more injured in a vile attack, which left two 19yr old students and a 50yr old man dead.
Initially the attack was being described by authorities to the emergency workers involved as a terrorist attack, and there was a very real concern that this could have been the beginning of more violence.
It was quite late in the day that information began to leak out to the media, and despite multiple road closures and large areas of Nottingham being closed off, not even the services on the ground had a clear picture.
There was talk of trams being deliberately derailed and even a train being crashed.
Initially the street closures seemed to be being blamed upon the previous day and nights storms.
This horrific attack thus far has no explanation, there is no clear motive, beyond vague reports and supposition in regard to the mental health and background of the ‘alleged’ perpetrator,who is described as a man of West African origin.
As time goes on more information will come out, there will be stories, accounts, anecdotes and claims made, by the press, local people, authorities and all sorts of different groups, some from the local communities and others from either positions of support or opposition.
The incident will be used by many to promote hate, or even to distract us all from other issues.
Nothing will take away the absolute pain and destruction that has been imposed not just upon the victims themselves, removing their lives and futures from them in such a callous manner, but also upon their families, friends, networks, communities and likely many more.
The survivors will have to live with the enduring and traumatic effects this attack has caused them. At the time I am writing this it is apparent at least one of the survivors is fighting for their life, two others are described almost glibly as having minor injuries, but the emotional and psychological consequences are likely to be anything but minor.
This horrible event may have a single or multiple causes, none of which warrant the loss of life and damage imposed upon the victims.
It will touch us all in some way, whether by increasing uncertainty, creating new fears, bringing together people through empathy or destroying trust, stripping links, and building upon what I believe is unjustified hatred.
There will be blame a plenty, and the entire situation will for a time be a political weapon for some, who will use it for their own ends, whether they be to bring people together,split communities up or sadly be an excise for the removal of yet more rights and freedoms we should all be intent upon protecting and truly hold dear.
At this point all I can see is the pain those who survived, along with that of the people who love those who didn’t are already experiencing, and the vast anguish and emotional devastation yet to come.
The actions of the perpetrator likely will bring changes. Some good, some terrible. The consequences will reach beyond those directly involved.
There will be guilt, regret, fear and even relief experienced by many.
We cannot allow these actions whatever the motives to further damage even more lives. These were it seems the actions of a single person, this was terrible on every level but not a “terror atrack”. The person who carried it out is in my opinion, absolute vermin, but should not be used as a catalyst for more violence, not be used as a way of promoting yet further hate, not give rise to more restrictions of our lives.
We have to learn from situations like this, other horrid events, such as Hungerford, but we also must be realistic. We live in a nation of around sixty eight million people. Each of us people will have a point where we trigger, we break, and for most of us that can result in a rant on social media, us shouting of gesticulating out of our car window, screaming at the TV, or as I did many years ago punching a stone flagged floor (which was not a wise move).
Sometimes, infact all too often, frustration and anger can lead to violence, whether in the home, in the pub, school or yes even street.
Still far too often people can be hurt, physically, psychologically and emotionally, and still way too often people can be killed.
What makes this event stand out is not that people have died, but that people with no apparent link to their assailant were attacked. There was no clear reason or catalyst for his actions. For some reason, that makes things scarier. The fact that it currently appears the victims could not have anticipated nor defended against their attacker,that they died, or were injured purely through circumstance makes it appear worse than if they knew, or had a relationship with this horrible excuse for a human being.
No amount of legislation,no knee jerk reaction can defend against such attacks. Bringing in new laws, tougher sentencing,or even calls to arm a the police will not stop such things happening again.
Breeding fear of people based upon their heritage will not protect anyone. In Hungerford the attacker was a white British male. Here it was a black west African excuse for man. Likely both had significant mental health issues that were not recognised or overlooked, maybe if we had better mental.health services it could have been avoided, maybe not.
I am sure Facebook will have thousands of self appointed experts laying blaim, offering opinion and judging many more by these vile actions that one man carried out.
There is blaim to be had. The murder is ultimately to blame. Government cuts are also likely to part of the cause, poverty maybe, culture whether racially or gender based possibly, but again this was one man. Do not allow his twisted vile actions carry any more influence than the have already had.
Do not give him credence by using this as a tool to politically motivate derision upon other that were not responsible nor involved. His actions were those of a weak man, a powerless man. We must never give lie to that. He needs punishing, anyone who enabled him needs holding to account but he cannot become a means to an end.
Jonesy, simply a human 