The London Bridge Attack - Essay Example

The London bridge attack is one of the recent shooting that took eight lives leaving forty-eight people with injuries within eight minutes (Alexander, 2017). The attack occurred early June 2017 at the heart of the nations capital making one of the worlds terrorists threat. On that fateful day three, a van with three middle-aged men with stabbing-proof vests drove into the pedestrian at a higher speed in London Bridge before attacking carousers with 12-inch blades. The attackers were in the third place when they were gunned down by the police officers. One officer was among those who were wounded during the attack (Beauchamp, 2017). Many people believe that terrorists usually uses grenades and bombs to carry out the attacks and what happened in the borough market and its environs that day may not appear as one of them. The fact that the attackers had the stabbing-proof vests on shows that it was a terrorist attack. Just like terrorist do pout on the suicide jackets when launching an attack, these assailants did the same thing. Following the shooting that occurred in March at Londons Westminster bridge, stabbing has become the trend by a terrorist. With this kind of attack, the terrorist takes the shortest time possible to carry out the act, unlike the 9/11 style plot that takes years planning. This type of attack is quite challenging especially for the law enforcement authorities to stop since others are lone operators that share ideas with no one. BBC news covered investigated the attack by airing the incidents from the time it took place until when the arrests of the suspects were made. This media outlet also examined on the families of the attackers as well as the situations at the site of the attack days after it happened.

The London bridge attack was identified as an act of terrorism by police officers following the confession of the eyewitnesses as well as the footage showing how it all happened (Alexander, 2017). Most news articles that published this story all referred to it as a terrorist attack with all their stories appearing similar. According to telegraph news, the ringleader of the attack was photographed dead with a canister stuck to his body. The police identified the man as Khurram Butt from barking, east London. According to the witnesses, the assailants were heard shouting This is for Allah" before being gun down by the police ("London Bridge attack latest: Terrorists named as police say they were not under surveillance as they posed 'low risk,'" 2017). Most terrorist on the verge of their death, they usually use such quotes to justify their actions. Butt was also spotted in the channel 14 documentary The Jihadis Next Door that talked about the rise of Islam in London ("London Bridge attack latest: Terrorists named as police say they were not under surveillance as they posed 'low risk,'" 2017).

The New York Times also reported it as the implement of terror. In their article, they have described the weapons that attackers used to stab the revelers in the pubs and along the London Bridge. The knives used by these criminals were branded Ernesto, according to the authorities (Joseph, 2017). They also wore fake explosive that was meant to instill fear into the victims they approached. According to the police officers, these invaders new that no one can risk shooting at someone wearing an explosive since they will all blow hence took advantage of that. The fake explosive belts with water cans around remained trapped to the attackers even after they were shot (Joseph, 2017). The police believe that they had a motive for carrying out multiple attacks following the things that were recovered from the van. It is also said that the ringleader in the attack tried to hire a big track, but the payment was declined what made him take the Van instead.

In the article by the Guardian, the attackers are recognized as terrorists whom their ringleader, Khurram Butt was a known extremist (Taylor, 2017). The attackers had water bottles wrapped around the belt using a grey tape to appear like suicide belt. The police found 13 wine bottles that contain flammable rags inside the van. With those were blown torches that they were to use in igniting the bottles what made the police believe they were planning more than one attack. The detectives also found lighter fluids usually used in petrol bomb what similarly prove that these were terrorists (Taylor, 2017).

In the article written by Wall Street Journal, the third assailant in the attack was an Italian national who had been on police record for some time. The Italian authorities had informed the UK intelligence about the relation Zaghba may have with the ISIS after getting some of their propaganda from his phone("London Bridge attack latest: Terrorists named as police say they were not under surveillance as they posed 'low risk,'" 2017). All the attackers lived in the UK and made and executed all their plans without police knowing even after being warned about two of the terrorist existence.

BBC news did investigate the origin of the attackers as well as their family background. During their investigation, Khurram Butt was identified as the ringleader of the group that carried out the attacked. According to the reports, Butt was a well-known extremist that aired his views openly. The police had been informed about the intention of this 27-year-old man before the attack ("Everything we know so far about last week's horrific attack on London Bridge," 2017). The investigation also revealed that he had a family with two children and by the time of the shooting, Khuram was unemployed. The family and friends distance themselves from the attack after the video footage showing the body of butt gone round the media ("London Bridge attack - BBC News," 04). 30 years old Rachid Redouane who claimed to be a Morrocan-Libyan also lived in barking, east London. After being shot dead, the police recovered an Irish identity card from his body.

Rachid arrived in the UK in 2006 where he applied for the asylum, but the application was rejected in 2009 ("London Bridge attack - BBC News," 04). Reports revealed that Redouane was once married to a British woman and had a one year daughter. Before carrying out the attack, he visited his daughter. BBC confirmed that he was identified by his fingerprints held at the immigration service. The third assailant was recognized as Youssef Zaghba who was only 22 years old when he participated in the attack. He was an Italian national but born in Morocco ("Police 'know the identity of London attackers,'" 2017). Youssef Zaghba lived in IL ford, London and worked as an audio technician. March 2016, he was stopped at Bologna on his way to turkey with fears that he might go to Syria. The police recovered Islamic state materials from his phone ("Police 'know the identity of London attackers,'" 2017). BBC was told that Italian authorities informed the UK intelligence agency about Youssef Zaghba and the cops they are aware.

By the time the van ran over pedestrians, BBC News reporter was on the ground what enabled this media outlet to cover all the events that took place at the scene. In their coverage, BBC started by explaining how the terrorists got to the stage and began to stab the people in the bar in the throat. After wounding some people leaving others dead, the police arrived at the scene and shot the attackers ("Everything we know so far about last week's horrific attack on London Bridge," 2017). During the shoot, a member of the public was shot but did not die and was taken to the hospital. The next part of the coverage talks about the victims of the attack. The attack claimed eight lives are leaving forty-eight people injured with ten in critical condition ("London Bridge attack - BBC News," 04). The report also talks about the attackers indicating their names and how they were connected.

It is clear that three attackers lived in East London where Butt and Rachid lived in the same suburb, barking while Zaghba lived in the llford area ("London Bridge attack - BBC News," 04). It has also covered how the assailants had shown their extreme nature before the attack. Many reports had been made against Butt to the police and anti-terrorism department following radicalization (Harris, 2017). The assistant police commissioner argued that they had no intelligence to show that they were planning the attack. Zaghba had been placed on the watched list after being stopped from going to Istanbul when ISIS materials were found on his phone. At the end of the coverage, they have indicated the police reports regarding the arrest made in connection with the attack. The police had arrested 21 suspects they searched over 13 buildings. They had questioned over 282 witnesses from 9 countries leaving nine culprits in custody for further investigation.

BBC relayed its coverage in that format to enable the readers to understand how everything happened. With this coverage, even those who did not watch the attack get to know what happened, where it happened and who did it (Nacos, 2016). They will also tell the victims and who came to their rescue. The coverage also illustrates how the police officers consider information from the public regarding a threat, especially from the radicalized groups (Glupker, 2008). The implication of this coverage is to inform the terrorists that their plans are already exposed, and the police are alert in case they are planning any more attacks. It also shows the public that terrorist can launch their attacks in many forms other than the use of bombs and grenades (Jetter, 2017). The three attackers were working with the Islamic state and planned everything under police watch. It came as a surprise since in most cases the terrorist have been using bombs and explosives what played out differently in this attack. The public should be watchful of those around them and the people they associate with as well as their behaviors towards others for them to be on the safe side (Bar, 2015). Media outlets do most investigations usually involve all these steps that BBC followed and that rules out the uniqueness of the coverage.

The London bridge attack came as a shock to many including the police officer. The government came to realize that they live with terrorists within the country (Glees & Ridley-Jones, 2017). According to the news articles, people had raised the alarm regarding Khurams extremist view and warned them of his ill intentions, but they never took them seriously. A terrorist is just ordinary human beings with family and relatives. Khuram, the head of this attack, had a wife, children among other parents who did not even imagine what he did. In the articles, they have described how these goons attacked heartless people with no families. They butchered people living many of them with injuries (Leer, n.d.). They stabbed the people in the neck with the aim of killing them. Terrorist tend to justify their actions by calling the name of Allah what real Muslims do not agree with at all.

According to Islam, no one is allowed to kill people in the name of justice. The attack brought sorrow to many families as people lose their loved ones while others nurse severe wounds in the hospital (Glees & Ridley-Jones, 2017). The people that had offices in that area got scared, and it took them time to resume their duties. The three attacks that took place within three months in the UK shaken the nation and the entire world. The attacks made people question the security and intelligence department of UK since one of the assailants even sneaked into the country using a fake name and went undetected (Harris, 2017). After being informed of Zaghba association with the ISIS, they still left him free without trailing his moves every single minute. With proper intelligence agencies in place, the attack would have...