Chris Kaba and Peter Lynch.
The deaths of these two men has been very much a topic of discussion these few days. Chris Kaba had been shot death by the police on 5 September 2022 after a police pursuit of a vehicle that was linked to a firearms incident the previous day. Kaba was an unarmed young black man and his killing was an instantaneous spark for communal anger and protests. The officer involved in the shooting was immediately suspended and the protests expanded to a 300- strong one outside Scotland Yard in which luminaries such as Jeremy Corbyn participated.
As the same picture of an open-faced and smiling young man flooded the media, one supplied by his family, many worthies got into the condemnation act in a well-conditioned reflex. Sadiq Khan, mayor of London described the death of Kaba as a ‘young life cut short’, adding in 2022 that he understood ‘the grave concerns and impact of Chris’s death on black Londoners across our city and the anger, pain and fear it has caused – as well as the desire for justice and change’. Labour MPs such as Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill have spent much time blaming the police and even after the verdict, she and the Guardian are stoking the flames.
Never mind the facts that were already known at that time : Kaba was stopped at a police road block, refused to follow police orders and attempted to ram police cars.
There is an immense appetite for a George Floyd event, many a career has been made by it and many millions of pounds have been ‘earned’ by race grifters, sorry activists.
The policeman who shot him was charged with murder in September 2023 and after a 3-week trial was found not guilty on Monday 21 October 2024. That was a two-year ordeal for Martyn Blake the officer who shot Kaba. Blake was immediately reinstated by the Metropolitan Police but his travails are not over and he may yet be sacked. The IOPC has said that despite Sgt Blake’s acquittal, it will now carry out a review to decide whether disciplinary proceedings remain appropriate, taking into account evidence at the trial and any representations made by the Metropolitan Police.
Much has been written about Chris Kaba in the last two years but what was missing in the media was any sense of who he really was and why he behaved in the way he did on that fateful night. A reporting restriction purportedly sought by his mother was in place and his mother applied to extend reporting restrictions beyond the end of the trial, but failed. Kaba has been revealed as violent career criminal. A quick summary in his wiki entry gives you an idea:
Kaba was a member of 67, a Brixton Hill-based drill rap group. A 2023 police report classified 67 as the “highest harm street gang in Lambeth”. Kaba was known by his stagename Madix or Mad Itch. He had convictions dating back to when he was aged 13 for offences including stabbing with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, a knife-enabled gang assault when the victim was stabbed and had his arm broken, and two other knife offences.
In 2015, when he was 17, Kaba was convicted of affray and possession of an offensive weapon over an incident in which a revolver-style handgun was recovered nearby, but the weapon wasn’t linked to him and he was never charged in connection with it.
Kaba had been charged in 2018 with possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, in relation to an incident on 30 December 2017. He was found guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court in January 2019, and sentenced to four years in a Young Offenders Institute. He was released in 2020.
In August 2020, Kaba was handed a five-month prison sentence for failing to stop and possession of a knife, which was discarded from a vehicle.
In the months following his death, six men were charged with conspiring with Kaba to commit murder and grievous bodily harm; the charges relate to a shooting which took place in Tower Hamlets on 30 August 2022, days before Kaba’s death.
On 30 August 2022, Brandon Malutshi was shot and injured in Tower Hamlets. Four men were subsequently accused of plotting with Chris Kaba and a sixth person to murder Malutshi. Four of the accused were tried at the Old Bailey, with two of them – Shemiah Bell and Marcus Pottinger – being found guilty of wounding with intent in February 2024. The two men were, along with Connel Bamgboye, found guilty of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. Three other defendants were found not guilty of all charges against them. At the time of the verdict, the BBC reported that the shooting of Malutsi was, “allegedly carried out by another man who died before he could stand trial,” and that, “the alleged gunman cannot be identified for legal reasons.”
The chilling video of Kaba stalking and shooting his gang rival just days before his death is going viral. We now know why he was so desperate to escape the police and what violence he was capable of. We also know that Kaba was a direct threat to the safety and security of law-abiding minorities in South London, not that the Guardian is ever going to interview anyone who might actually say such.
Now that so much information is in the public domain, one might suppose that a sense of shame and fair play might provoke a furious backpedalling from the usual suspects. Unfortunately we do not live in that world any more.
The IOPC statement on the verdict centred his family and “our black communities”. The BBC allowed Kaba’s family and assorted activists much airtime to allege a miscarriage of justice.
'We will continue to fight until our last breath'
The family of Chris Kaba, who was shot dead by police in south London, made this statement after firearms officer Martyn Blake was cleared of his murderhttps://t.co/HRhv4Ewlmn pic.twitter.com/XpzNKwamaH
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) October 22, 2024
The Runnymede Trust – these days a reliable indication of moral inversion- tweeted this :
This lack of police accountability perpetuates cycles of violence and impunity.
Our thoughts and solidarity are with Chris' loved ones and wider community.
Chris Kaba, 23.07.1999 – 05.09.2022#JusticeForChrisKaba pic.twitter.com/stDuxg9kkX
— Runnymede Trust (@RunnymedeTrust) October 21, 2024
BLM UK organised an emergency rally outside London’s Old Bailey on Monday night to protest the ruling.
‘NO JUSTICE. NO PEACE,’ the activist group raged online, ‘Join our urgent call for accountability.’
Going even further, BLM UK took to X on Monday night with increasing hysteria:
THE POLICE KILLED CHRIS KABA!…Chris Kaba’s family join a long line of other families whose loved ones have been killed by the police and still wait for some accountability.
The police may have been acquitted of murder by the courts but we find them guilty of systemic racism and violence. We believe and organise for police and prison abolition to bring about the lasting change that Chris’ loved ones and many more deserve.
Chris Kaba joins the pantheon of black martyrs like Mark Duggan and you may well see his saintly visage on a South London mural one day soon.
Peter Lynch, 61, committed suicide on 19 October 2024 in prison. Who was he? Definitely not someone feted by the worthies and our moral betters as a victim of the the system. Too gammon for their refined tastes. Lynch was one of the more than 50 men jailed at Sheffield Crown Court following the Rotherham rioting which left 64 police officers injured. The Rotherham rioting followed the Southport murders of 3 young girls.
He had been videoed screaming “you are protecting people who are killing our kids and raping them” and “scum” at police with riot shields. He was accused of inciting the crowd and of being a conspiracy theorist.
Lynch who suffered from diabetes, thyroid issues, angina and had suffered a heart attack earlier in the year was sentenced to serve 2 years and 8 months in prison on 22 August 2024.
He might not have been a very nice man, but there are no indications that he committed violent acts as such.
His death will not be the lightning rod for communal unrest that Kaba’s was but in many ways it is just as significant in building community distrust and division. Its significance lies in who is talking about it on social media and who isn’t. Its significance lies in how they are talking about it.
https://twitter.com/Slatzism/status/1848354813286719636
There is a lot of trouble brewing.
Update: It has been revealed that Martyn Blake and his family live under police protection in fear of their lives as a criminal gang has put a bounty on their heads. The officer lost his anonymity which used to be usual practice because Kaba’s family insisted on him being named and a judge granted their request. Following intense and negative public reaction, the Home Secretary Yvonne Cooper has announced that thathe government would return to introduce the presumption of anonymity when police firearms officers face criminal charges and trial. She also said legal thresholds for charging in police use of force cases would be reviewed.
