March 15, 2006

Arrests Made in London Muhammed Cartoon Protests

Police in London have finally made some arrests in the now infamous protests at the Danish embassy in which Muslims threatened to behead those who insulted Islam. A) What took so freaking long? B) What about the hundreds of others at the protest? UPI:

Five men were arrested Wednesday over their alleged role in a London protest during which some demonstrators urged the murder of those who insult Islam.

The men were seized on suspicion of incitement to violence and incitement to murder, and taken to police stations in London and Birmingham for questioning.

The demonstrations, held outside the Danish Embassy in London on Feb. 3 and 4, were in protest of the publication of satirical cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper. The images, which included one of the Prophet wearing a bomb-shaped turban, sparked outcry across the Muslim world, particularly after they were republished by newspapers in several European countries.

Some demonstrators in London waved placards calling for the "beheading" or "massacre" of those who insult Islam, while other placards appeared to call for a repeat of the July 7 bombings which killed 52 people.

Jurist:
The arrests follow weeks of investigation by a special law enforcement team set up by the London Metropolitan Police called Operation Laverda, which collected video, audio, photographs and other evidence of protestors. During the protests, demonstrators displayed placards threatening terrorist attacks like those on September 11th and July 7th, as well as the "massacre" of people who insult Islam....

Police charged four of the suspects with incitement to murder, and held all five on charges of "using threatening words or written material to stir up racial hatred."

UPDATE: The Blogfather has video of the protest up.

By Rusty Shackleford, Ph.D. at 03:21 PM | |