Murder Stirs British Debate on the Roots of Extremism

New York Times ^ | October 22, 2013 | Katrin Bennhold

[nickcarraway]

Pavlo Lapshyn, a gifted 25-year-old engineering student from Ukraine, had come to Britain after winning a prestigious placement at a software company. A special awards ceremony had been held at the British ambassador’s residence in Kiev, and in April Mr. Lapshyn arrived in Birmingham.

Five days later, he took a knife, roamed the streets of a multiethnic Birmingham neighborhood and stabbed a bearded man three times in the back, killing him. He did not know the man, Mohammed Saleem, an 82-year-old grandfather of 22 who was walking home from evening prayers at a local mosque.

Mr. Lapshyn, who pleaded guilty to murder and other charges in the case this week and is expected to be sentenced on Friday, has shown no remorse.

“I have a racial hatred, so I have a motivation,” he told police officers who interviewed him before trial. “I would like to increase racial conflict, because they are not white and I am white.”

The case has intensified the debate in Britain about the roots of racial and religious hatred and far-right violence. A young, white man, well educated and seemingly well integrated into society, acting on his own, Mr. Lapshyn fits a profile that has British counterterrorism investigators increasingly worried.

[Frank_2001]

Was there this much hand-wringing when the three Muslim guys stabbed the British soldier in the street???

[Frank_2001]

I should have written, “beheaded”. No extremism there, right? /sarcasm

[nickcarraway]

I guess that was just self defense.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

This was a terrible killing but the British police seem to be more interested in single white extremists than the Moslems who killed scores of Brits on buses and subways and in the streets of London.

Guess they don’t want to offend their future killers.

[arthurus]

No handwringing then because, of course, there was no ethnic aspect to the incident, just Moslem randomness. They don’t target individual Infidels but kill them randomly. Any Infidel will do.

[papertyger]

Mr. Lapshyn fits a profile that has British counterterrorism investigators increasingly worried hope for.

Fixed it.

[Myrddin]

Muslims do this to non-muslims and the police shrug it off. A white, non-muslim does it to a muslim and they come unglued. It's wrong either way. They need to punish the muslims as severely as anyone else. They don't get a free pass to murder, rape and maim non-muslims. Equality before the law. It works.

[meatloaf]

Blacks and muslims don’t fare well in Ukraine.

[the scotsman]

Two.

[the scotsman]

Utter drivel.

The UK has jailed far more Islamic terrorists and extremists since 2001 than the US.

[the scotsman]

The UK has tried, convicted and jailed several Muslim terrorists and extremists since 2001, more than the US.
Currently, the Lee Rigby killers are on trial.