Kill Lee Rigby

On May 22, 2013, in the area of ​​South London, Woolwich, in the middle of the day, on the street, the drummer of the 2nd battalion of the Royal Rifle Regiment Lee Rigby was killed ^[1] . He was hit by a car, after which two men sitting in a car pulled a wounded soldier onto the road and finished off him with a knife, cleaver and machete.

Two British citizens of Nigerian descent took part in the murder. One of them, 28-year-old Michael Adebolajo ( English Michael Adebolajo ), after the murder, demanded that passersby take it on the cameras of their mobile phones ^[2] . Without washing off the blood from his hands and holding cold steel in them, he declared: “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Do you think that after this David Cameron will come out to protect you, do you think when we take up arms he will suffer? No, ordinary people will suffer - like you and your children. Peace will come only after your government withdraws troops ... ” ^[3]

Before the police arrived, the killers talked with passers-by for about 20 minutes. One of the witnesses, nurse Ingrid Loyau-Kennett ( Ingrid Loyau-Kennett ), said that Michael Adebolayo forbade her to touch the corpse, and when asked why they killed him, he replied that he, being a soldier, himself killed people, therefore he has no place on earth ^[3] .

The police arrived and arrested the criminals. Both resisted the police and were injured by the police. They were taken to different hospitals. After that, a search was conducted in the houses of the suspects. Reported on possible accomplices of the crime ^[4] .

Shortly after the assassination, British officials confirmed that both of the accused — Michael Olumide Adebolajo and Michael Oluwatobi Adebowale — have been known to the British Security Service for several years, notably Michael Adebolaggio — at least since 2005 years ^{[5] [6]} .

Both grew up in the UK, were part of a radical Muslim community. Michael Adebolaggio, born in 1984 in Lambeth to a Christian family ^{[7] [8]} , studied at the University of Greenwich, not far from the place where he committed the murder. In November 2010, he was arrested among others in Kenya on suspicion of joining the Islamic group Jamaat Al-Shabaab ^[8] . Despite the involvement of both parties in extremist groups known to the authorities, the Security Service considered that they did not pose a significant terrorist threat ^[9] .

A few days after the crime, both were charged with the murder of soldier Lee Rigby, as well as other crimes ^[10] .

British Prime Minister David Cameron , who was in France on a working visit, was forced to urgently come to London. On May 23, 2013, Cameron announced to the media:

It was not just an attack on Britain and the British lifestyle. It was also a betrayal by Islam and the Muslim communities that tormented our country so much ^[11] .

London Mayor Boris Johnson : “I want to emphasize one circumstance: it is necessary to accuse Islam and Muslims of this terrible crime! And I would not link this act with our foreign policy, with the military operation against Islamic terrorists ” ^[3] .

That same night, activists of the " Defense League of England " who are fighting, they claim, "with the total Islamization of society," tried to hold a rally at the scene of the murder. On the same night, an attempt was made to set fire to a city mosque ^[3] . In the UK, security measures have been strengthened, and the number of policemen and soldiers on the streets has increased. ^[11]

On April 29, 2013, 82-year-old Mohammed Salim was stabbed to death in Birmingham and returned home from the mosque. Pavel Lapshin, a Ukrainian graduate student of ultra - right views, also accused of committing terrorist attacks near mosques in the cities of Walsall , Tipton and Wolverhampton in June - July 2013, admitted the murder of a Muslim. The beginning of the series of terrorist attacks coincided with a wave of anti-Islamic actions caused by the assassination of Lee Rigby in London ^[12] .

On December 19, 2013, both defendants were convicted of the murder of Rigby. ^[13] On February 26, 2014, they were sentenced to life imprisonment: Adebolaggio - without the possibility of parole, Adebovale must serve a minimum term of 45 years before the possibility of parole ^[14] . Political and Muslim leaders in Britain and abroad condemned the attack on Rigby ^{[15] [16]}

• The first results of an investigation into a demonstrative murder in London (neopr.) . Channel One (May 23, 2013). Date of treatment May 24, 2013. Archived May 24, 2013.
• The suspects in the murder of a soldier in London were known to the security services as Islamic extremists (neopr.) . ITAR-TASS (May 23, 2013). Date of treatment May 24, 2013. Archived May 24, 2013.