Metropolitan Police commissioner attacks ‘dangerous narratives’ about police shooting Chris Kaba Kaba’s gang was linked to 11 shootings last year by a firearms officer who was cleared of murder.

Sir Mark Rowley He said online commentary, mostly focusing on Kaba’s ethnicity, risked undermining justice in the wake of the shooting and called on commenters to be more aware of the weight of their words.

“From the beginning, over the last two years, the majority of online conversations have focused entirely on: Chris Kaba’s ethnicity,” he said while speaking at an event in London on Tuesday.

“Rumor and innuendo have fueled highly dangerous narratives about purported facts that are disconnected from the evidence presented to the court and the verdict recently delivered by 12 Londoners.

“I would go so far as to say that some people of great influence are at risk of undermining the British justice system, and these people need to know better.”

Sergeant Martyn Blake Last month, he was unanimously acquitted of murder in the shooting of Kaba as he tried to escape a police stop in Streatham, south London, in September 2022.

The case sparked fierce controversy; While Kaba’s family organized protests after the decision was announced, the government announced this decision. Plans to give firearms officers anonymity Police accountability will be reviewed and will remain in court until conviction.

Following the hearing, the gag order allowing notification was lifted. Kaba was a member of Lambeth “67” gang If he had not been killed, he likely would have been tried for attempted murder for a nightclub shooting five days earlier.

The gang is one of the 10 most active gangs in London, involved in child abuse, drug distribution and the “indiscriminate use of firearms” and has been linked to 11 shootings, Sir Mark told the event hosted by Crimestoppers. last year.

“There are only about 95 key criminals at the heart of the gang,” he said. “They have a lot more partners on the sidelines.”

Sir Mark called for an honest conversation about the challenges facing Black communities in London, noting that young Black men are 13 times more likely to be murdered than white men. Gangs like 67 are a “critical part” of that disproportion, he said.

He also warned that there was a “fundamental problem” with police accountability that left officers more worried about legal danger than physical danger.

“Policing needed more accountability and more transparency,” he said. “I would never, ever object to that, but the sense that officers are now retreating from exercising some of their more sensitive and controversial powers is evidence that… the possibility of legal jeopardy is dominating civil servants’ decision-making.”

Last month, Home Affairs Minister Yvette Cooper firearms officers Individuals facing criminal charges related to police assaults should be granted the presumption of anonymity until the point of conviction.

He followed the news of Sgt. Blake’s had happened Forced to hide after £10,000 reward It was offered to anyone prepared to kill him.

But Inquest, which supports Kaba’s family and other victims of state-related deaths, opposed the plans, insisting that open justice principles should apply “equally” to police and civilians.