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This was being discussed in the UK politics thread but some wanted to discuss this news in a separate thread.

Here's the latest summary by the Daily Mail.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4338998/Police-open-fire-outside-House-Commons.html

FOUR people are dead - including police officer and terrorist - and 20 more injured - after killer mowed down pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before killer is shot attacking police in Parliament grounds 
• Four-wheel drive was driven over Westminster Bridge knocking down pedestrians this afternoon
• Victims were said to have been left scattered in the road, with one woman knocked into the River Thames
• Emergency services  treated at least 20 injured people on the bridge, with one woman dead under a bus 
• 'Asian' knifeman got into the grounds of Parliament where he stabbed and killed a police officer
• The 'middle-aged' attacker was then shot by armed officers and died after being taken to hospital
• Police believe attacker to be a 'lone wolf' - but are refusing to rule out other people being involved 
• Parliament was suspended and the Prime Minister was rushed from the scene in her official car

People have described this guy as middle-eastern or Asian but the report I heard says he's a British born man of Jamaican heritage. He converted to Islam later and became radicalized as early as 2005-2006.

Fething hell. I hope all our British Dakkanaughts are safe.

Seems like attacker has long been encouraging radicalisation and fund raising for terrorism abroad, and finally made an attack in person. Well known by the authorities for supporting terrorism but still free to walk the streets.

I don't know if it was the guys monitoring city CCTV feeds or just alert bystanders but a woman with injuries was quickly pulled out of the river. Last word is that she'll be okay all things considered.

anyone know which lot where the backers?

or was it claimed in a groups name?

The guy the terrorist is alleged to be may still be in prison, there is some confusion over who the guy was.

I wish my fellow Brits well. Carry on and don't let this type of scum put fear into your hearts, that's how they win. To hell with them.

 Nostromodamus wrote:
I wish my fellow Brits well. Carry on and don't let this type of scum put fear into your hearts, that's how they win. To hell with them.

Aye. Sit down have a cup of tea in the tine honoured tradition of UK handling danger, threat or any kind of problem.

We don't know much of anything yet. Twitter has latched onto the idea that a guy that's already in jail did it... Gotta love a good ol' baying mob.

The PM gave a speech half an hour ago with the details. It's not up on youtube yet, it seems, though.

 jhe90 wrote:

 Nostromodamus wrote:
I wish my fellow Brits well. Carry on and don't let this type of scum put fear into your hearts, that's how they win. To hell with them.

Aye. Sit down have a cup of tea in the tine honoured tradition of UK handling danger, threat or any kind of problem.

Indeed.

I wish the term 'Lone Wolf' wouldn't be used. Aside from the massive coverage (literally, non-stop on the BBC) this receives, which by itself is furthering any terrorist aim, it makes them sound as if they're something cool, like Rambo.

If they started using terms like 'poorly educated and/or mentally challenged misanthrope' or 'poorly endowed loser' (either of which is probably closer to the truth than something like The Punisher, which is what Lone Wolf brings to mind), perhaps you might get less people trying it on.

 Pacific wrote:
I wish the term 'Lone Wolf' wouldn't be used. Aside from the massive coverage (literally, non-stop on the BBC) this receives, which by itself is furthering any terrorist aim, it makes them sound as if they're something cool, like Rambo.

If they started using terms like 'poorly educated and/or mentally challenged misanthrope' or 'poorly endowed loser' (either of which is probably closer to the truth than something like The Punisher, which is what Lone Wolf brings to mind), perhaps you might get less people trying it on.

Agreed. How about "Sad Sack" attacker? Succinct and snappy.

Pacific, I think you might enjoy this comic strip:
http://nonadventures.com/2015/06/20/the-some-of-all-fears/
(Very slightly NSFW language)

Wonderella was right, it WAS a guy! Are men all psychopathic killers? Why won't men distance themselves from all the male terrorists! Surely there is something very wrong with maleness .

 Pacific wrote:
I wish the term 'Lone Wolf' wouldn't be used. Aside from the massive coverage (literally, non-stop on the BBC) this receives, which by itself is furthering any terrorist aim, it makes them sound as if they're something cool, like Rambo.

If they started using terms like 'poorly educated and/or mentally challenged misanthrope' or 'poorly endowed loser' (either of which is probably closer to the truth than something like The Punisher, which is what Lone Wolf brings to mind), perhaps you might get less people trying it on.

They also rarely turn out to be lone wolves, either. While they're not part of formal terror cells, there's almost always support and encouragement from other people. True lone wolves, guys who develop and enact terror plots entirely by themselves without any conncetion are very rare.

I'm not going to speculate on this case while so much is still unknown, but I do wish the media wouldn't default to lone wolf.

This is sad news、RIP victims.
Is this a normal or restricted road?

Its a normal main road through London, and one of the bridges used by many thousands, many walk over it as tourists.

Parliment has heavy duty fencing, thick concrete barriers and very heavy police prescense. Its no soft target.

Well..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-39362754

...Police raid Birmingham flat in wake of Westminster attack...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39363297

...Seven held after Westminster attack...

Hate to say it but I thought Brum may be in thew news regarding yesterdays events.

The death toll has risen hasn't it?

At the moment, it's 4 dead - 2 pedestrians, the stabbed policeman and the arse hole who did it all.

But, this was the news I heard last night at 9pm. Things might have changed since then...

I heard it's five now. I want to be mistaken.

I heard 5 as well.

A terrible day, a black day

It feels weird to see familiar places, places you've been too, come under attack like that

Moving forward, what can be done to prevent this? You can't stop people owning cars, and knives are everywhere.

There are no easy answers to solving this...


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Breotan wrote:
I don't know if it was the guys monitoring city CCTV feeds or just alert bystanders but a woman with injuries was quickly pulled out of the river. Last word is that she'll be okay all things considered.

London has extensive CCTV coverage and is probably one of the most watched cities on Earth.

Also, because of past experience of dealing with IRA bombing campaigns in the 1980s, the London Police has some very good systems and training in place for dealing with terrorist attacks.

 Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:
A terrible day, a black day

It feels weird to see familiar places, places you've been too, come under attack like that

Moving forward, what can be done to prevent this? You can't stop people owning cars, and knives are everywhere.

There are no easy answers to solving this...

Realistically we can't stop it through banning things. If someone is so minded to hurt people they will find a way, all we can do with that is manage the risks and do what you can without overly restricting the civil liberties of the majority. When something like this happens it is right to ask the question, but sometimes the answer is no, we are doing what we can. The same goes for the security services. Did they do everything they realistically could? No idea. They may have failings, or they may have done what they could. We also need to ask if we are doing what we can to address the causes of radicalization, and be careful not to forget this area, which is the most often overlooked. I don't know if this is the case here, or what the answer is.

On other news:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/23/londoners-fire-back-fox-news-pundit-claims-capital-shut/

Many have responded with scorn to a Fox News pundit who claimed London had "shut down" because of the terror attack on Wednesday.

Londoners have made a point of being purposefully defiant; Parliament is sitting as usual, public transport is running and commuters have gone to work, carrying on as usual.

However, Dr Phares, who is a Fox News National Security & Foreign Policy Expert and appears to reside in the United States, had a different opinion of our capital.

He said: "One man can shut down a city".

More quality news from experts on Fox. The IRA couldn't shut down London, nor could the Luftwaffe. One idiot with a knife and a Chelsea tractor isn't going to succeed.

Best reply to this:

James Moran
✔ @jamesmoran
The only things that shut down London: (a) leaves, (b) 3 flakes of snow, (c) when you try to get on trains without letting people off first

Unfortunately as one terrorist deals death on our streets in London another is eulogised by the great and good as he is buried today in Northern Ireland. My thoughts today are with innocent victims of terrorism the world over. I trust the people of London will show the strength and courage they are famous for.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4342254/ISIS-claims-responsibility-London-terror-attack.html

someone's calimed it.
usual degenerate scumbags.

I don't believe that ISIS are responsible for most of the things they claim, they are just opportunistic.

I think you need to define 'responsible'.

DaIsh does in fact encourage followers in western nations to undertake these attacks and has even specifically recommended using vehicles as an attack mechanism. They provide guidance on how to select targets and how to plan your attack. They provide indoctrination/rationalization materials. They encourage followers to 'pledge' to DaIsh before executing their attacks. They provide guidance on how to organize support cells if needed (and in some cases help wanna-bees by pointing them to like minded souls).

But no, there is no centralized DaIsh HQ or Planning Cell which coordinates and resources all of these types of attacks.

So I guess a question in my mind is, Would this perp have conducted his attack without DaIsh influence?

 jhe90 wrote:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4342254/ISIS-claims-responsibility-London-terror-attack.html

someone's calimed it.
usual degenerate scumbags.

An apparent copy cat attack in Antwerp, Belgium.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4342446/Man-arrested-trying-drive-car-crowd.html

This kind of news makes me sad. While I'm quite glad that the majority of the victims have survived the attack, the damage done by ending lives is catastrophic and permanent, something the victims and their families never deserve, but are made to suffer anyways. Heartless and inhuman.

It was done a year to the day of the Brussels attack wasn't it? That's not a coincidence.