Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and Sadiq Khan have been asked to apologize after criticizing police over the shooting of violent gangster Chris Kaba.
The Liberal Left has been accused of viewing Kaba as an innocent victim of police brutality, despite his extensive criminal history.
A jury at the Old Bailey took just three hours to acquit Sergeant Martyn Blake of murdering Kaba following a three-week trial after he was stopped and shot by armed police in south London in 2022.
Details of Kaba’s violent past were revealed on Tuesday, revealing him to be a leading member of a gang linked to gun crime and drug dealing. Kaba’s family, who said that he changed his life and wanted to be an architect, tried to prevent the press from reporting such details.
Former Metropolitan Police commissioner Lord Stevens said some politicians were too quick to jump on a bandwagon comparing Kaba’s death to that of African American George Floyd, who was killed by a US police officer in Minneapolis in 2020.
Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick criticized scores of charities, non-governmental organizations and far-left politicians for “jumping on the shooting rampage” to justify their pre-existing prejudices.
Former Conservative MP Sir Jacob Rees Mogg also criticized Sadiq Khan for “bragging” about being in contact with the Independent Office for Police Conduct investigating the Kaba attack, despite the London mayor presumably knowing about Kaba’s criminal history.
Cross-examiner Lord Stevens, who served as a Met commissioner from 2000 to 2005, said many people assumed Kaba was a completely innocent man.
“People need to stop and think. I believe the Liberal Left should apologize, it has now been revealed that he was involved in a shooting in his past and chased a man out on a night out just a few days before his death,” he said.
“Let’s recognize what he is and what he does.”
Emphasizing that Kaba’s death was a tragedy, Lord Stevens added: “You can see why he acted like that in that car; He wanted to escape from the police and was desperate to do so. “I think those who bragged about him should apologize.”
He said he felt Kaba’s family were wrong to try to “silence” his significant criminal past, adding: “We have an open society and people need to understand what we are dealing with.”
Shortly after the 2022 shooting, Black Lives Matter held a demonstration in which protesters declared that “the police are murderers” and called for the Met force to be disbanded.
Rapper Stormzy addressed the crowd and backed the family’s call for “accountability”, saying: “Nobody should be able to go on like this.”
Mr Corbyn, the independent Islington North MP and former Labor leader, attended the protest alongside Ms Abbott, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Harriet Harman.
Mr Corbyn said his thoughts were with Kaba’s family “who are fighting for justice and accountability”. Ms Abbott, MP for Hackney, told demonstrators: “I don’t know how I would feel if my son had been murdered in cold blood.”
Sir Jacob said those who misled the public about the Kaaba should be “ashamed”.
He told The Telegraph: “As Black Lives Matter seeks to defund the police, it is no surprise that Kaba’s Leftist supporters prefer a violent thug to law and order.
“Yet those who suggest he is anything other than a gangster should be deeply ashamed for misleading the public and fueling racial tensions.
“This is especially true for Sadiq Khan, who must know the history of the IOPC and boast of being in close contact with the IOPC. “His conduct as joint supervisor of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner was irresponsible at best.”
A spokesman for the Labor mayor said: “As with all fatal police shootings, we must independently assess all the circumstances of the case and decide whether the officer[s] Those involved must face any acts of abuse.
Mr Jenrick added: “Aid organisations, NGOs and far-left politicians have all jumped on Chris Kaba’s case to justify their pre-existing prejudices about the UK.
“Even after the firearms officer was acquitted by a full jury and the truth about Kaba’s violent past emerged, false allegations of ‘state-based violence’ persist.
“The British Left are so influenced by America’s identity politics that they can no longer see the difference between right and wrong.
“They are so caught up in false narratives about racism in our country that they are defending the indefensible,” he added.
“By not supporting Martyn Blake, Sadiq Khan jeopardized the work of firearms officers and put the safety of Londoners at risk – from dangerous criminals like Kaba.”
Kaba’s full criminal history was revealed on Tuesday, following reports that restrictions on his criminal career had been lifted.
In the early hours of August 30, 2022 – just six days before he died – Kaba and three other members of his gang sneaked a gun into a Notting Hill Carnival after-party at an east London nightclub.
CCTV caught him shooting a 23-year-old man in the leg. As the target tried to escape, Kaba followed him outside and shot him as he lay on the ground. The man survived.
He and his friends left in an Audi Q8, the same car he drove the evening he was shot dead.
on September 4 – the day before he was shot by the police – Kaba and his gang are suspected of carrying out an armed attack on the occupants of a Mercedes car outside a primary school in Brixton.
The Audi Q8 was once again used by the group as a getaway car. While the identity of the gunman was never determined, gunpowder residue was revealed in the analysis performed on Kaba’s clothes.
Kaba’s criminal convictions date back to the age of 13. By his late teens, he had transitioned from minor crimes to serious violence and was convicted of stabbings and grievous bodily harm.
In December 2022, the University of Greenwich said: “In September, we heard the news of the death of Chris Kaba, a 24-year-old musician and aspiring architect who was expecting a baby with his fiancee. Following the killing of George Floyd two years ago, our university was determined to do more to dismantle institutional racism.
“It is crucial that we all continue to be honest and humble about the challenges we face in terms of the work that needs to be done and remain unapologetic in the fight for equality and social justice.”
The statement appears to have now been deleted from the website.
Kaba was a pregnant father at the time of his death, but court records also show he was granted a 28-day domestic violence protective order in April 2022 regarding the mother of his unborn child.
The order banned him from contacting her on social media or entering the street where she lived.