Latest news with #lawless
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
JD Vance's fury over video of woman being beaten up by man during mass brawl in his home city of Cincinnati
Vice President JD Vance has chimed in after footage emerged of a woman being beaten to a pulp by an unruly mob in his home state of Ohio. The Vice President didn't hold back as he made comment on horrific footage of the attack that unfolded on Friday night in downtown Cincinnati, with the victims, a man and woman, being swarmed by a violent crowd. He said: 'What I saw, and I haven't seen the full context, but what I saw is a mob of lawless thugs beating up on an innocent person. 'It's disgusting and I hope every single one of those people who engage in violence is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. 'I don't know the full context, but the one part that I saw that was really gruesome is you had a grown man who sucker punched a middle-age woman. 'That person ought to go to jail for a very long time - and frankly, he's lucky there weren't some better people around because they would've handled it themselves. 'We have got to make great American cities safe again for families and children, the only way to destroy that street violence is to take the thugs who engage in that violence and throw their asses in prison.' In the shocking clip, a man in a white t-shirt is can be seen being shoved to ground by two men and repeatedly beaten as other members of the crowd jeer and join in. The gang beat the man for nearly a minute as he lay in the middle of the street, seemingly stepping on his head multiple times. When the barrage of attacks temporarily stopped, he is seen attempting to stand - but immediately fell over in apparent disorientation. One attacker yelled out 'my man's drunk'. A woman in a black dress rushed to his aid, but was attacked by the crowd, suffering two blows to the face. The impact caused her to fall, with her head slamming the pavement. She became unconscious as blood spewed from her mouth. The Friday night assault at the intersection of Fourth and Elm Streets started with a verbal dispute between at least two men, according to police. The carnage left at least two people, the unidentified male and female victim, injured. A good Samaritan rushed them to a local hospital in the aftermath, WKRC reported. Their conditions remain unclear as cops work to identify and arrest all of those involved. Investigators have already identified four to five suspects believed to have participated in the 'savage attack', police union president Ken Kober told The Cincinnati Enquirer. He said officers are continuing investigate tips as they try to identify the remaining suspects. Police have not yet announced any arrests in connection to the fight, but Kober insists officials are 'doing everything they can'. 'These investigators have been working around the clock to identify everybody that's involved, to be able to locate these people, to be able to interview them, to be able to get a true picture of exactly what occurred,' he told WKRC. Investigators have also received tips on some of the attackers' identities, Kober said. 'I would ask... that the public play a part in this, because stuff like this shouldn't happen in our city, but when it does, we need people to step forward, that way we can bring these people to justice.' Kober argued there is 'no place in society' for the violence displayed Friday night and, in separate remarks to WLWT, called the brawl 'disgusting'. 'What's equally disgusting is those who chose to watch and record instead of calling 911, attempting to defuse the situation or render aid.' Police Chief Teresa Theetge said the incident was not connected to the jazz festival that was going on in Cincinnati that weekend. 'This was a sudden dispute between individuals following a verbal altercation,' she added. Elon Musk had waded in on the brawl, posting to his social media that he was frustrated with a lack of response to the incident. Musk, apparently frustrated by the heinous act of violence, took to his social media platform X to question what he suggested was a lack of response to the incident. 'Why zero stories?' the Tesla CEO asked Sunday, retweeting a post from the End Wokeness X account alleging that the attack wasn't being covered by America's major news outlets. End Wokeness posted a tweet early Sunday afternoon claiming CNN, ABC, NBC, Fox News, The New York Times and The Washington Post, among others, had failed to cover the attack. By late Sunday evening the terrifying assault had been covered by several local and national media outlets, including the Daily Mail and Fox News. The central business district and riverfront area where the assault took place has seen a 25 percent increase in violence compared to last year, according to Cincinnati police data published July 21. The data also shows that there were 12 aggravated assaults in the city between January 1 through July 21, compared to 16 during the same time period last year.
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Khan branded a coward after refusing TV debate with Farage
Sir Sadiq Khan has been accused of 'cowardice' after refusing a televised debate with Nigel Farage on crime in London. The Labour Mayor of London turned down Mr Farage's offer of a head-to-head showdown as it emerged that shoplifting in the capital had risen by more than half in the past year. It comes after the Reform UK leader launched a 'six-week offensive' of policy announcements with a particular focus on crime and punishment. Mr Farage told The Telegraph: 'Labour have been in government for over a year. 'Sadiq Khan has nowhere to hide any more – the blame for his record in office lies solely at his feet. He has failed Londoners. London is lawless and London needs Reform.' However, a spokesman for Sir Sadiq dismissed Mr Farage's offer as a 'political stunt' and claimed the Mayor was 'too busy working for Londoners to get crime down' to take part. The Reform leader replied: 'It's just extraordinary and cowardly, and everyone knows that London is becoming lawless. What is Khan afraid of? I don't bite.' A crime survey released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) last week found shoplifting in London had increased by 53 per cent over the last 12 months to March. The rise was the steepest of anywhere in the country, while London also accounted for 16,344 knife crime incidents, an annual rise of nine per cent. London also accounted for a third of all knife offences in England and Wales. A spokesman for Sir Sadiq said: 'The Mayor is too busy working for Londoners to get crime down to get involved in political stunts. 'Nothing's more important to the Mayor than keeping Londoners safe. Sadiq is determined to do all he can to tackle crime and its complex causes, which is why he has invested record sums in the police and in providing positive opportunities for young people. 'Sadiq is building on the progress that's been achieved in London with the number of young people being injured with a knife, homicides, lethal barrel discharge, and burglary all down since 2016.' The Mayor's office said the number of teenage murders in London was at its lowest rate since 2003, while the number of under-25s killed was at its lowest since 2013. Sir Sadiq's spokesman added: All this has been achieved despite government austerity since 2010.' At a press conference last week, Mr Farage pledged to send Britain's worst offenders to jail in El Salvador as part of a five-year plan to halve crime rates. The £17.4 billion scheme, which also seeks to boost police numbers and prison places, would see the introduction of new rules to increase the number of jail sentences handed down by judges. The El Salvador idea is based on a similar policy by Donald Trump, who is paying the Latin American country billions of dollars to house offenders. Sir Sadiq holds direct responsibility for policing in London as the city's mayor and de facto police and crime commissioner. Under his watch, violent crime has soared from 190,000 incidents in 2016/17, when he first came to power, to 250,000 in 2023/24. Transport for London's crime and anti-social behaviour report in 2023 showed a total rise in offences of 56.5 per cent. This included a 158 per cent jump in crimes involving offensive weapons and a 107 per cent rise in robbery. Sir Sadiq is planning to shut the front counters in 13 of the 32 Metropolitan Police stations that are open 24 hours a day. He had pledged in his 2024 mayoral election manifesto to 'maintain a 24-hour police front office counter in every borough'. However, he said he would need to sign off on the closures and claimed government spending plans had left the Met with a £260 million black hole in his budget. Eleven more of the 32 stations would switch to reduced opening hours, leaving just eight front counters staffed around the clock.
Telegraph
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Virtue signalling on-stage protestors should be prosecuted
Around 50 per cent of the population now feels that the UK is becoming a 'lawless' country, according to an opinion poll. It is understandable the public should feel this way. Police and prosecutorial inaction when dealing with protestors, judicial failures in sentencing violent or sexual offenders, horrific increases in open anti-Semitism, mindless vandalism – the list goes on. A large part of the reason for the view that lawlessness is prevailing is because the public see incidents like the protest at the Royal Opera House last weekend, when a cast member unfurled a Palestinian flag on stage during the curtain call of Verdi's Il Trovatore, going unpunished. (Ironically the flag was actually an invention of the British colonial authorities in 1916 so not as symbolic of independence as some imagine). It's not the first time West End productions have been disrupted. Activists held a protest on stage midway through a performance of The Tempest at Drury Lane in January when protestors walked onto the stage. Protesters previously disrupted a performance of Les Miserables. There was also an interruption to the First Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in 2023. The law-abiding public are sick of the constant self-indulgent virtue signalling by people who think their cause trumps the right of everyone else to go about their lawful business. The enjoyment of hundreds of other people and the hard work of hundreds of cast and crew is affected by the disruptive actions of a handful of people. When the authorities fail to act against such incidents it has a consequence. It empowers others to indulge their own protests on another occasion. Many audience members have been looking forward to their attendance at these productions. The disruptors care not a jot. But there are things that can be done. As a former arts minister I would say that it is sadly now incumbent on all theatres to have a protocol in place to deal with a protest the moment one occurs. Lower the curtain immediately, cut the stage lights, silence the sound system. Press a cut-off switch like the BBC failed to do at Glastonbury. The police should always be called. There are offences under the Public Order Act which may apply. For a protestor in the audience, the offence of aggravated trespass may apply. It occurs when a person trespasses on land and intentionally disrupts a lawful activity. For a crew or cast member, the police and Crown Prosecution Service may consider legislation such as the very rarely used Theatres Act 1968. This was the Act that abolished the ancient role of the Lord Chamberlain in supervising theatre productions. But the Act allowed prosecutions for such things as obscenity and public order offences. If a cast member can be said to be 'putting on a performance', for example, with intent to cause 'provocation of a breach of the peace' that might potentially be applicable. The Act applies to people 'presenting or directing a performance.' Arguably a cast member could be said to be 'presenting' a performance even if he or she acts independently of the rest of the cast. Some imaginative thinking may be required by the authorities – but ignoring this sort of thing is a recipe for more audience members having their special occasion spoilt.
Telegraph
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Farage's fix for lawless Britain is to bring back The Sweeney
Reform's anti-crime plan was launched in a Victorian library, with curtains drawn, spooky purple lighting and screens flashing mugshots. It felt like a Jack the Ripper Experience at the London Dungeon – 'the year is 1888, the streets are stalked by a killer' – till a fire alarm went off and Nigel Farage arrived to segue masterfully into a press conference. 'Sorry about the fire alarm,' he said, 'but you know what? We do have a bit of an emergency!' Britain was 'lawless', he announced; the country was 'close to civil disturbance'. The solution? More coppers, who should be tall and frightening – like Lee Anderson – so if ' people are looking for trouble and they see a couple of big strapping police officers', they'll think twice. Of course, he'll get push-back from the woke coppers who say the force must reflect the community it polices, in which case, why not stuff it with shoplifters and bicycle thieves? Diminutive pansexuals seem over-represented. Farage wants to bring back The Sweeney, as do I, along with kipper ties, 'evening all', grasses, slags, falling down the stairs and 'put your knickers on, love, you're nicked'. Stick 'em, he said, in 'nightingale prisons' – let's forget those were empty – or ship 'em to El Salvador, which is definitely not covered by the ECHR. A wet liberal asked if he cared that Salvadorian prisons were crowded and accused of torture, and Nige replied 'obviously, El Salvador is an extreme example', as if the press had suggested it. But it's an example Reform included on its own press release, emphasised in bold by an author who clearly thought it was a topping idea and hadn't googled it first. There was also a question about castration. All eyes turned to Zia Yusuf, demoted to a seat in the audience. His legs were crossed. On the up are Sarah Pochin MP, a magistrate, and Laila Cunningham, a former prosecutor and Robo-mum who said that when her AirPods were stolen, she chased the culprit for three hours (no doubt the Met has since charged her with stalking). Sadly absent was James McMurdock, who could've shared some insights into the young offenders system – but he's no longer with Reform and is helping the standards commissioner with his inquiries. Were I a politician, I'd dedicate myself to making the justice system as lenient as possible. Just in case… Hang-and-flog 'em dinosaurs will lap all this up – I know I did – and it was vastly more entertaining than Keir Starmer's end-of-term appearance at the liaison committee, itself duller and more cruel than making us sit through double-geography on a Friday afternoon. I used the time to plan a holiday to Ffestiniog. MPs pinched themselves to stay awake. The only colour was Emily Thornberry, the foreign committee head, rocking a you-only-live-once perm and a jacket that was Dolce & Gabbana or a respectable knock-off. Truly, she is the foreign secretary of gay men's hearts. Pity the school trip that listened to Starmer drone about 'stock-takes', 'interim reports' and anti-poverty plans with 'four limbs', the misery guaranteed to put any radical 16-year old off voting for life. We should turn the liaison committee into a 'scared-straight' programme for at-risk youth. 'Stay away from politics, kids, or this could be you.'
The Guardian
21-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Enter Nige's fantasy UK, where crims operate with impunity and only the lucky get out alive
A darkened room in central London. Curtains drawn to keep the lawbreakers out. A few dozen brave journalists who have dared to walk the streets. Mugshots of convicted criminals along with the sentences received line the walls on video screens. Though weirdly, none of James McMurdock. Perhaps Reform has yet to update its own database of undesirables. Young James is taking a break from the party whip while the Public Sector Fraud Authority investigates Covid loans to his companies. That's the trouble with London today. Trust no one. Just after 11am, a siren goes off and Nigel Farage, the Conservative-turned-Reform councillor Laila Cunningham and Tory-turned-Reform MP Sarah Pochin settle down behind a table. To their right is a lectern with the slogan 'Britain is lawless'. Miraculously, none of them have had their phones nicked or been stabbed on the journey into London. A city where crims operate with impunity. Dante's seventh circle of hell. A place where only the lucky get out alive. First up is Laila, a woman who freely admits she expects to get robbed every time she leaves her front door. She's almost sorry when she makes it back home in one piece. Laila has something she wants to get off her chest: she doesn't actually like anyone. Her country has been betrayed. One day, she might ask who was responsible. The answer might be closer to home than she imagines. Nige has done as much to shape the UK in the last 10 years as anyone. If you want to know why we're broke, you can start with Brexit. But for now, Laila is beyond thinking. She's just a heartbeat away from taking out an AK-47 and mowing down a nearby gang. Next came Sarah P, AKA Nurse Ratched. The unthinking person's idea of a thinking person. She too is in despair. London is a ruined city. The only people out in daylight hours are shoplifters and drug dealers, most of them foreigners. Sarah is almost in tears as she goes on to say that most Afghan migrants are potential sex offenders. How she yearns for the days when you could rely on all rapists to be white. But that's two-tier justice for you. Spare a thought for poor Lucy Connolly, who was sentenced to prison just for inciting people to burn refugees alive inside their hotel. Where was the harm in that? It was obviously only a joke. And Sarah is still laughing her head off at it. Worryingly, Farage appears to be lining her up to be his home secretary. She's one of the few Reform MPs he hasn't yet fallen out with. For the details, such as they are, we have to wait for Nige. He, too, is living out his own fantasies of a London that is one large no-go area. Crime is out of control, he says. Don't believe the statistics that show violent crime is going down. Just turn the graphs the other way up and use your own data. Stop and search everyone. Especially foreigners. Zero tolerance for anything. Apart from James McMurdock. Three strikes and it's life imprisonment. Send our worst prisoners to El Salvador – with any luck they might get tortured there. Send foreigners back to foreign lands. Build Nightingale prisons and throw away the keys. Recruit 30,000 new police officers. Abandon all diversity and equality targets. If you want a proper copper you need to get a white, heterosexual man to do the job. Only then will you feel safe. This was Nige's fantasy world. A country on its knees, reduced to lawlessness by the woke and the Blob. A land only he could save by locking every crim up. No offence would go unpunished. To prove his point, he passed around a sheet of paper with some bogus figures explaining how he would pay for everything. Shrink the state, cut net zero and HS2 and you can do what you like, he said. He was asked about El Salvador. Was he serious? Oh, no. Not that El Salvador. He couldn't think why he had said it. He was all heart really. Nige and reality have a small intersection area. Elsewhere in Westminster, the government was winding down before the summer recess. For Keir Starmer, this meant one of his thrice-yearly appearances before the liaison committee. A chance for the select committee chairs to ask the prime minister a few – reasonably – polite questions about his performance so far. It was noticeable that the Labour members of the committee were a great deal tougher than they had been last time round. Meg Hillier got things going by asking what he thought the country would look like in three years' time. It would be amazing, Keir replied. Everything would be hunky-dory. No one should take his brilliance for granted. The Tories had broken everything. He was the saviour who would mend things. In the public seating area, the first eyelids began to droop. Starmer has the unique gift of being able to put any crowd to sleep. It's got him out of bigger holes than this. The session drifted on as Keir talked technobabble – 'no silver bullet', 'delivery targets' – while the committee tried to reintroduce him to the real world. If he was really committed to ending poverty, why didn't he consider getting rid of the two-child benefit cap? And even the diluted reforms to the welfare bills were going to increase poverty. Debbie Abrahams insisted these weren't Labour values and that she felt ashamed. Liam Byrne wondered why Starmer was so reluctant to make changes to capital gains tax? Then he could afford to give tax breaks to the less well-off. Keir mumbled something about not setting the budget months ahead and the forecasts constantly changing and we all went back to sleep. Hillier ended by asking what had been his highlight of his first year in office. 'Easy,' said Starmer: walking into Downing Street for the first time. Which rather suggested it had all been downhill from there.
