Birmingham has become “unsafe”, with violence in the city becoming “worse and worse”, locals have told the British media.
Speaking after a man described as “Somalian” by the Telegraph — a detail the police have not officially confirmed — was arrested on suspicion of murder and seven counts of attempted murder for a deadly stabbing spree in the city, Birmingham residents said that violence “has become normalised”.
“This city has become unsafe,” resident Phil Paul told The Guardian, adding: “I am not surprised this has happened. I’ve lived here all my life, and it has got worse and worse. When incidents like this take place, it just feels like an average day in the city.”
Another man told the newspaper that “stabbings happen unfortunately all the time”, asserting: “Nowadays Birmingham is dangerous, especially the city centre. I’m not really surprised.”
“It’s something that is basically happening on a daily basis in Birmingham, stabbings and other violent crime,” he added.
Despite the suspect being on the loose for several hours after his knife rampage, police declined to give the public any description of the attacker for some time.
However, a journalist published footage on Twitter in which a witness described the assailant as “a black guy, between 20 to 25, wearing a hoodie [with two vertical white stripes], a black cap, [and] black trousers”, and hours later police finally did release CCTV of a man matching this description.
West Midlands police and crime commissioner, David Jamieson, attracted ire from rival politicians for “trying to excuse” the knifeman after the Labour figure claimed that rising violence in Birmingham had been “almost inevitable” during the coronavirus lockdown due to “pent-up feelings” over job insecurity.
Figures released earlier this year showed that murder, knife crime, and violence had “soared” in the multicultural city, reported BirminghamLive in January, noting that: “The area continues to see rising levels of serious crime involving a knife, including murder, attempted murder, assaults, threats to kill, robberies, and rape and sexual assaults.”
Data showed violent crime had risen 27 per cent in just a year, with 84,039 incidents recorded in the year up to September 2019, compared to 65,914 the year before.
On Saturday, Breitbart London reported on Birmingham’s Labour council’s announcement that the city is set to create a fast track recruitment programme for ethnic minorities, force staff to undertake “equalities training” and launch a new “race equality” curriculum in schools, in response to Black Lives Matter protests.
In addition, the West Midlands metropolis plans to be the next UK city to review street names, monuments, statues, and public art displays to ensure that they “properly reflect and respect the city’s history and communities”.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.