Fact check

Wow. More dreck from the Guardian. This time it’s not so much the “we must defend free speech but not really” brand of dreck as the making up their own facts brand. Let’s play Spot the Mistakes.

First two sentences of the piece:

The attacks were in different continents and on people of different faiths and of none, but in the North Carolina university town of Chapel Hill and the Danish capital, Copenhagen, it was freedom itself that was the intended target. On Tuesday, three young Muslim students were gunned down in their Chapel Hill flat, apparently by a neighbour, Craig Hicks, who claimed their faith was an affront to his atheistic principles.

[Read more…]

But also abhor publication

The Guardian is prompt with the “but we must guard against the understandable temptation to be provocative in the publication of these cartoons” crap. Defend free speech, it cries. But don’t be provocative about it.

Great advice, were it not for the fact that that’s exactly what these shooters are saying. Hugh Muir writes:

We are in perilous territory. Slaughter as political protest cannot be defended. Free speech as legal and moral pre-requisites in a free society must be defended. But there are also other obligations to be laid upon those who wish to live in peaceful, reasonably harmonious societies. Even after Paris, even after Denmark, we must guard against the understandable temptation to be provocative in the publication of these cartoons if the sole objective is to establish that we can do so. With rights to free speech come responsibilities.

[Read more…]

Arrested

Haaretz says Copenhagen police also arrested a suspect last night.

Police said they shot and killed a suspect in the attack, and that another suspected accomplice had been arrested. At the same time, police raided the Copenhagen home of the terrorist and found a gun.

The Danish intelligence agency said investigators have identified the suspect and that he is someone who had been on the agency’s “radar.” He did not reveal his identity. [Read more…]

The wrong inflamer

As I’m sure you already know, the Copenhagen police tracked the shootings suspect to where he lived, there was gunfire, he was killed. No interviews, again. No doubt that was his intention, again.

The BBC account:

Police say they killed the man in the Norrebro district after he opened fire on them.

…

Police say video surveillance suggested the same man carried out both attacks. They do not believe any other people were involved. [Read more…]

It is not safe to be in the city centre

Update: 

One dead at the synagogue.

A shooting near a synagogue in Copenhagen has left one person dead and two injured, hours after a deadly attack at a cafe in the city.

In the second shooting one person died after being shot in the head, and two police officers were wounded. The attacker is believed to have fled.

More on the shootings at the Copenhagen synagogue, because the BBC has updated its report.

The second shooting took place on Krystalgade street.

“We cannot say anything about the condition of the injured yet,” the Danish police were were quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

“The perpetrator fled on foot,” they added. [Read more…]

Daddy dearest

Now in case you’re somewhat exhausted by the horrific news of today – I know I am – here’s a little change of pace. A win for the Men’s Rights movement, perhaps, or just an example of domestic harmony restored.

A mum battered and slashed to within an inch of her life by her jealous ex-fiance has been threatened with jail if she refuses to write to him in prison.

Horrified Natalie Allman, 29, has been ordered by a judge to send letters three times a year to brutal Jason Hughes who tortured her for seven hours in front of their twin sons.

Under parental rights laws, Natalie is being forced to send updates on the five-year-olds along with photos. [Read more…]

Now a synagogue

And now this.

Several people have been injured after shots were fired near a synagogue in Copenhagen, Danish police say.

One person was reportedly hit in the head, and two police officers had arm and leg injuries. The attacker is believed to have fled.

It is not clear whether the shooting is connected to an earlier attack on a cafe in the city.

Hell and damn.

 

It sounded like crackers

Agnieszka Kolek was there today, and she tells us about it in the Spectator.

I was invited to Lars Vilks committee in Copenhagen to present Passion for Freedom London Art Festival. The committee is  organized annually and happens on the anniversary of Salman Rushdie’s fatwa. The meeting started with a short introduction from one of the organizers followed by François Zimeray, the French ambassador, commemorating Charlie Hebdo and discussing the challenges that we face when it comes to the threats to freedom of speech and democracy in our countries.

Not knowing they were about to get a graphic demonstration of those threats.

Inna Shevchenko opened the panel and started to talk about Femen and her work. She also discussed her close friendship with Charb, the editor of Charlie Hebdo, and how they both stood strong exercising their right to freedom of expression. A few minutes into her speech we heard separate bangs. It sounded like crackers. Everyone was sitting and Inna was speaking as the bangs turned into a shower of bullets. It sounded like a machine gun. There was lots of shouting in Danish, the security shouted that Lars should evacuate, everyone started to run or hide. A few people remained sitting. I slid behind the stage to hide.

Then the shooting stopped, and after awhile people started to get back together and talk, and then they decided to continue with the presentation.

 

Unintended consequences

A press release from the European Commission:

The European Commission and the High Representative deplore today’s crime in Copenhagen costing the life of at least one citizen. One life is one too many. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families. Europe stands united with Denmark in upholding freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Europe will not be intimidated.

I hope it really won’t. This kind of shit is intimidating, make no mistake about that. That’s what it’s for and that’s what it does.

But one thing it also does is make more people loathe Islam with more of a passion. Maybe the disgusted parents and older siblings of these “jihadists” will eventually be able to get that through their heads – they’re not doing their beloved religion any favors.