Chapter 33: Racism Is Suicidal

137      killing twenty-two people and injuring more than a thousand  Vikram Dodd et al., “At Least 22 Killed, 59 Injured in Suicide Attack at Manchester Arena,” The Guardian, May 23, 2017, www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/may/22/manchester-arena-police-explosion-ariana-grande-concert-england.

137      ISIS claimed responsibility Kate Samuelson and Jared Malsin, “ISIS Claims Responsibility for Manchester Concert Terrorist Attack,” Time, May 23, 2017, time.com/4790201/isis-manchester-concert-terrorist-attack/.

137      was born in Manchester to parents . . . seeking asylum  Helen Pidd, “How Family and Libya Conflict Radicalised Manchester Arena Bomber,” The Guardian, March 2, 2023, www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/02/how-family-libya-conflict-radicalised-manchester-arena-bomber.

137      three men drove a large white van onto the walkway  Vikram Dodd, “London Bridge: More Arrests as Police Tell How Terrorists Wanted to Use Truck,” The Guardian, June 10, 2017, www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/10/worse-terror-attack-on-london-bridge-foiled-by-chance-police-say.

137      after 10 P.M.  Haroon Siddique, “London Bridge Attacks: How Atrocity Unfolded,” The Guardian, June 28, 2019, www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jun/28/london-bridge-attacks-how-atrocity-unfolded.

137      hit and killed three people  Dodd, “London Bridge: More Arrests as Police Tell How Terrorists Wanted to Use Truck,” www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/10/worse-terror-attack-on-london-bridge-foiled-by-chance-police-say.

137      crashing into railings at nearby Borough High Street  Siddique, “London Bridge Attacks: How Atrocity Unfolded,” www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jun/28/london-bridge-attacks-how-atrocity-unfolded.

137      jumped out of the van, ran to Borough Market “Within Eight Minutes Suspects Were Dead: Timeline of the London Bridge Attack,” The Guardian, June 4, 2017, www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/04/within-eight-minutes-attackers-were-dead-timeline-of-the-london-bridge-attack.

137      slaughtered another five people with kitchen knives  Dodd, “London Bridge: More Arrests as Police Tell How Terrorists Wanted to Use Truck,” www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/10/worse-terror-attack-on-london-bridge-foiled-by-chance-police-say.

137      killed all three of the attackers at the scene  Dodd, “London Bridge: More Arrests as Police Tell How Terrorists Wanted to Use Truck,” www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/10/worse-terror-attack-on-london-bridge-foiled-by-chance-police-say.

137      British citizen of Pakistani descent led the terror attack  “Police Say One of the London Bridge Attackers Was Previously Known to Authorities,” ABC News, June 5, 2017, abcnews.go.com/International/neighbors-identify-london-bridge-attacker-man-featured-recent/story?id=47837932.

137      comrades were of Moroccan and Libyan ancestry “Police Say One of the London Bridge Attackers Was Previously Known to Authorities,” ABC News, abcnews.go.com/International/neighbors-identify-london-bridge-attacker-man-featured-recent/story?id=47837932; and Rukmini Callimachi and Katrin Bennhold, “London Attackers Slipped By Despite an Avalanche of Warnings,” New York Times, June 6, 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/06/06/world/europe/london-assailants-terrorism-warning-signs-fbi.html.

137      did not mention “Islamic extremism” Alan Travis, “Theresa May’s Response to London Bridge Attack Is Tougher Than After Manchester,” The Guardian, June 4, 2017, www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/04/theresa-may-response-london-bridge-attack-tougher-manchester.

137      were “bound together by the single, evil ideology . . .”  “PM Statement Following London Terror Attack: 4 June 2017,” GOV.UK, June 4, 2017, www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-statement-following-london-terror-attack-4-june-2017.

137–138 “people’s minds away from this violence . . ."  “PM Statement Following London Terror Attack: 4 June 2017,” www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-statement-following-london-terror-attack-4-june-2017.

138      “avalanche of warnings” had come . . . “played down, ignored or missed” Callimachi and Bennhold, “London Attackers Slipped By Despite an Avalanche of Warnings,” www.nytimes.com/2017/06/06/world/europe/london-assailants-terrorism-warning-signs-fbi.html.

138      knew before the Manchester Arena attack that Abedi supported ISIS  Maya Wolfe-Robinson and Vikram Dodd, “MI5 Had Intelligence Manchester Arena Bomber Posed Threat, Inquiry Told,” The Guardian, February 15, 2022, www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/feb/15/mi5-had-intel-manchester-arena-bomber-posed-threat-inquiry-told.

138      pushed for more soldiers, police, and surveillance See Amnesty International, Dangerously Disproportionate: The Ever-Expanding National Security State in Europe, 2017, available at www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur01/5342/2017/en/.

138      had just been appointed co-leader of Germany’s AfD “Germany AfD: Right-Wing Party Picks Election Leaders,” BBC News, April 23, 2017, www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39686081.

138      “If you really want to take effective action . . .”  Alice Weidel, Twitter, May 24, 2017, 4:26 a.m., x.com/Alice_Weidel/status/867295840414695425, archived at archive.today, February 9, 2026 capture, archive.ph/MKOp2.

138      “This is war”  Geert Wilders, Twitter, June 4, 2017, 4:32 a.m., x.com/geertwilderspvv/status/871283493111816192, archived at archive.today, February 9, 2026 capture, archive.ph/up65x.

138      to transform young Muslims into mass murderers  According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, common “push factors” associated with youth recruitment into terrorist organizations include a “notion of injustice (whether real or perceived), including because of” “police violence” and “perceived or real discrimination.” “Pull factors” include “Revenge and indirect identification with victims of violence” and “Previous involvement in the justice system.” For more on push and pull factors, see Handbook on Children Recruited and Exploited by Terrorist and Violent Extremist Groups: The Role of the Justice System, 2017, www.unodc.org/documents/justice-and-prison-reform/Child-Victims/Handbook_on_Children_Recruited_and_Exploited_by_Terrorist_and_Violent_Extremist_Groups_the_Role_of_the_Justice_System.E.pdf, 30–31.