Three people were were fatally stabbed at the site of a Reading Black Lives Matter protest in Forbury Gardens on June 20.
British police have arrested a 25-year-old suspect and are now investigating the stabbing spree as a terrorist attack. Police have urged the public not to share video or images of the event.
Footage has appeared from the park where the march was being held as CPR was administered to a victim who was bleeding profusely and another man was lying in a pool of blood.
BREAKING (GRAPHIC): Multiple people reported stabbed. Some reports of fatalities in vicinity of a Black Lives Matter protest in Reading, UK pic.twitter.com/jVxEiEU3Ud
— Raheem Kassam (@RaheemKassam) June 20, 2020
Police say a man began screaming unintelligibly then attacked several people in the park, leaving three wounded in addition to the three killed.
Police currently believe the motive was not related to the Black Lives Matter protest, though it happened in the same park as the protest.
A tweet from Thames Valley Police urged people to stay away from the scene as authorities investigated. They wrote: “We are aware of reports of an incident in Forbury Gardens, Reading. Officers are on the scene and investigating the incident.”
Helicopters circled the area and sirens blared as authorities rushed to the scene, with perimeter being cordoned off.
A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said the force was "aware of reports of an incident in Forbury Gardens, Reading," and said officers were investigating.https://t.co/MncFeL8ARr
— LBC News (@LBCNews) June 20, 2020
Thames Valley Police said they are investigating an incident in Forbury Gardens, Reading. https://t.co/aW1QVeW8J4
— Twitter Moments UK & Ireland (@UKMoments) June 20, 2020
The Black Lives Matter protests in the UK were subject of ample controversy as historical statues were vandalized and some violence was recorded amid clashes.
The media, on the whole, has been generally supportive of the recent protests, sidelining their coronvirus social distancing narratives to allow for the protests to take place without retracting support.
Due to the UK’s strict gun laws, stabbings lead the country in fatal attacks, prompting more legislation for strict control of knives complete with drop boxes being offered to anonymously bin unwanted or illegal blades.
Last year, the situation became so severe that pubs were given knife bleed control kits to treat stabbing victims until emergency services could arrive.
