The government took action to prevent a media frenzy, releasing a "Media Advisory Notice" warning against the publication of information that could prejudice a future trial. This might be a valid warning, but the only newspaper that seems to have taken any notice is the Reading Chronicle, the local paper, which says:
"As legal proceedings have begun, The Chronicle could be in contempt of court to publish any information on the man arrested following Saturday's attacks, including reports of previous convictions".
Amusing really, when you consider that all the media, including The Daily Mail, have published details of the attack and the alleged attacker, Khairi Saadallah. From The Independent, we learn:
"The Libyan man accused of launching a terror attack that left three victims dead in Reading at the weekend was under probation supervision at the time, The Independent understands.Khairi Saadallah was released on appeal from HMP Bullingdon in Oxfordshire just 16 days before the mass stabbing".
That bastion of law and order, The Daily Mail, said in today's edition:
"Police intercepted the Reading terror suspect on the street just hours before he allegedly went on the rampage, the Daily Mail can reveal. A specialist mental health team was asked to search for Khairi Saadallah after officials failed to find him during a routine check at his home last Friday".
So much for Media Advisory Notices! Nonetheless, there has not yet been any kind of public reaction. Another reason for this might be the fact that there is some controversy over whether this was a terror attack or not. According to the same Daily Mail edition, members of Saadallah's family have been actively denying that he is a terrorist. Interestingly enough, MI5 had cleared him of being a terrorist last year, as The Guardian says:
"Saadallah was on the radar of MI5 in the middle of last year, sources said, when he was briefly placed under investigation as a person who might travel abroad “for extremist reasons”. The inquiry was closed relatively quickly without any action being taken, as no genuine threat or immediate risk was identified."
Various media outlets have emphasised the fact that Saadallah has mental health issues. According to The Sun:
"Saadallah was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and delusional and paranoid schizophrenia, requiring medication before his release, a source told the Sun."
As regular readers of this blog know - only too well - dangerous mental health patients are a recurring theme of mine. They might well expect a similar kind of article here, but I demur in this case. However much I acknowledge the fact that Saadallah has mental problems. I favour the police view that this was a terrorist incident. To make my case, we need to look at the attack itself.
The mass stabbing began in Forbury Gardens , Reading, at about 7pm, June 20. Three men (L to R in the photo): Joe Ritchie-Bennett, a US citizen, James Furlong, a History teacher and a scientist, David Wails, were killed. Three others were injured and taken to hospital. The attack was sudden, vicious, and chillingly efficient. The horror of this event will traumatise witnesses of the stabbings, as well as the relatives of the three men, for years - perhaps for the rest of their lives. I speak for all of us when I send my condolences to the friends and relatives of these three victims, should they happen upon this blog.
Saadallah's mental history does not preclude him from being a terrorist. On the contrary, terror organisations find people with mental health problems very useful. Daesh, in its early days, used mentally handicapped individuals as carriers of suicide bombs; the German Red Army Faction, aka "The Baader-Meinhoff Gang", recruited mental health patients for their so-called "Holger-Meins Commando" in the 1970s. Nor does it rule out "lone wolf" attacks - Thomas Mair, the murderer of Jo Cox, M.P., had mental issues, but was still motivated by fascist ideology.
There are two main reasons for believing this to be a terrorist incident.
First, this was a targeted attack, rather than one of the random attacks which are carried out by people with mental health problems alone. All the victims were gay men, and, I surmise, Forbury Gardens is known as a gay meeting place. All Jihadist terror groups hate gay men and, in Iraq and in Syria, aimed to liquidate them physically. ISIS have the nasty trick of throwing gay men to their deaths from high buildings. The fact that Saadallah attacked a gay rendezvous site indicates, I think, that he shares this murderous, homophobic hatred - and the ideology which promotes it.
Secondly, the attack was carried out with a significant element of skill. Each of the three victims who died was killed by a single blow. Contrary to popular belief, it takes some knowledge and practice to kill with a knife, and Saadallah certainly seemed to have that. Quite where he acquired that skill is open to speculation - perhaps in his native country of Libya, either from one of the many militia groups that plague that land, or even the local branch of ISIS.
This, I believe, endorses the police view that this was a terror attack. However, it might indicate something else as well. With the exception of the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, most of the deadly terror attacks have happened in London. The fact this atrocity happened in the provinces might hint at a change of attack location of choice for our terrorist minority - whatever their political or religious affiliations.
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