Culture

Mayor Sadiq Khan Voices His Fury At The London Terrorists While Trump Continues To Attack Him On Twitter

The London Bridge terror attacks, which left seven dead and nearly fifty more wounded, shocked the world while Brits largely kept a stiff upper lip and refused to be terrorized. As of now, Thursday’s snap election will continue as planned with Theresa May’s position as prime minister hanging in the balance. As for London Mayor Sadiq Khan, he has addressed the matter multiple times, but on Monday, he spoke from a unique perspective as the first Muslim mayor of London. While standing alongside Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick near the attack site, Khan expressed fury at what he deemed an appropriation of the Muslim faith by terrorists:

“It is sad that officers have been injured very seriously in the attack on Saturday night. That’s as a consequence of them running towards danger, encouraging others to flee and risking their lives in the process … Can I just say this? The acts of these three men on Saturday night was cowardly, was evil. I’m angry and furious that these three men are seeking to justify their actions by using the faith that I belong to. The ideology they follow is perverse, it is poisonous, and it has no place in Islam.”

Investigators will be piecing together clues for some time regarding these attacks. However, police have confirmed that they know the identities of the three men (who were wearing “hoax” bombing vests) that officers shot dead within minutes of the first calls to emergency services. In addition, ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attacks without providing evidence.

In the immediate aftermath of the London Bridge incidents, President Trump politicized the attacks while promoting his so-called “Travel Ban” with an out-of-context quote by Khan, whose aides said he had better things to do than to respond to Trump’s tweets. (Note: Khan’s actual words were “Londoners will see an increased police presence today and over the course of the next few days. No reason to be alarmed. One of the things the police, all of us need to do is make sure we’re as safe as we possibly can be.”)

On Monday, Trump doubled down on Khan and his “pathetic excuse” for a “‘no reason to be alarmed’ statement.” The president seems angry that the press pointed out the full context of Khan’s remarks?

Khan has still not responded to Trump’s taunting attempts — the man is busy — and it’s likely that he won’t. One might wonder why Trump’s pushing his Travel Ban so hard right now, to the point where he spent much of Monday morning ridiculing its “watered down” state. Yet Trump simply wants a victory on any level regarding his revised executive order, and he’s formally appealed to the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, it’s supposed to be Infrastructure Week for his administration, and as usual, all wheels are not on the same track. Sad?

UPDATE: Khan has also spoken at a vigil for the terror attack victims. In this video (uploaded by MSNBC’s Kyle Griffin), he once again condemned terrorists: “As a proud and patriotic British Muslim, I say this: You do not commit these disgusting acts in my name.”