The family of six-year-old Bebe King, one of the three girls killed in the Southport attack on July 29, 2024, has urged government officials to reconsider plans to disclose the ethnicity of serious crime suspects. This request comes just days after an especially horrific crash that injured ten others. Many of these people will never completely heal.
Axel Rudakubana, a 17-year-old from a local Christian family, perpetrated the attack that claimed the lives of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe, and Alice da Silva Aguiar. The riots in Southport were sparked by violence. Social media misinformation, which falsely claimed that Rudakubana was an asylum seeker due to her Muslim name, added fuel to the fire and chaos.
In the wake of the attack, this prejudice exploded into social unrest, with local residents attacking mosques and hotels accommodating asylum seekers. People of color were randomly attacked in large numbers throughout these riots, raising alarming issues of racial relations in the city. Only after the situation got so bad that prison sentences were issued to some rioters did it begin to get a measure of control.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has praised and adopted the guidelines. Because of their push, these guidelines now permit the release of race and nationality information for individuals charged in significant or high-profile cases. This aggressive shift has been met with outrage from families such as Bebe King’s.
Michael Weston King, Bebe’s grandfather, voiced his discontent with the government’s direction regarding ethnicity disclosure. He said white people committing crimes too is not an excuse when talking about crime and who is committing it.
“I not only speak for myself but for all of the King family when I say that the ethnicity of any perpetrator, or indeed their immigration status, is completely irrelevant.” – Michael Weston King
Weston King criticized political figures who he believes have exploited the tragedy for gain, stating that it has only caused further misery for grieving families and communities affected by the attack.
“We were failed further, by the likes of Reform and the right wing, as they tried to make political gain from our tragedy, only causing further misery to us and others, which was despicable.” – Michael Weston King
Additionally, he issued sharp rebukes when he believes DOJ has aligned itself with far-right priorities, like on crime policy.
“This apparent kowtowing to the likes of Farage and Reform, who surely want such a policy in place, is extremely disappointing, though perhaps not surprising.” – Michael Weston King
Weston King made an interesting point about the need to broaden the prevalent understanding of crime that goes beyond racial lines. He emphasized that mental health and radicalization towards crime can happen to anyone, it doesn’t matter where you come from.
“Mental health issues, and the propensity to commit crime, happens in any ethnicity, nationality or race.” – Michael Weston King
In light of these points, the family urges a reconsideration of the misguided proposed policy. They’d like to not see a deepening of division among communities that are already suffering under violence and misdirection. They further made clear that they are not interested in pursuing accountability for those who inflicted violence during the assaults on our democracy.
“Though we are not interested in retribution or revenge, we were glad to see that the rioters, along with those who spread lies and hatred online, received prison sentences.” – Michael Weston King