Man shot three times in street by racist gunman - for wearing Barack Obama T-shirt

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

If you like Natty - I guess you'll just have to remain in the dark.

Have fun.

[Ken y Leidys 20]

I have had death threats before. Police have also threatened me physically - in public, and in broad daylight. So, I (kindof) understand the pain this poor guy is going through.

[luckytxn 2,264]

I am guessing he is gonna be stupid enough to wear the shirt again.

[mawilson 2,133]

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

-Gandhi

This is the "then they fight you" part!

Man shot three times in street by racist gunman - for wearing Barack Obama T-shirt

Duh. Shot in a London street? It wasn't even in America, for fucks sake.

Can you watch your language? Duh is quite condescending.

No can do, sorry.

[mawilson 2,133]

Lets agree to disagree. I will always want to arm the citizens of the UK. I think US police deal adequately with violent criminal activity. Engage in criminal activity if you wish but don't whine when you get a good kicking from the cops. In the UK, the best police can do these days is write a strongly worded letter.

Well no, they have some mean looking batons.

The UK is small, violent crime is relatively rare - all the statistics prove that.

[natty bumppo 297]

It was South Norwood. Lets face it, South Norwood is a complete hole. You don't stop in South Norwood - you drive straight through and out the other side, quickly. There are various areas of London that should be blown up and this is definitely one of them. Harlesden, Penge, South Kilburn,

Bermondsey, Peckham, and Walthamstow are the others.

meaning ... the laws don't work ...

Oh i totally agree. Banning knives and guns was a complete success wasn't it? No one, and I mean no one is the victim of gun or knife crime in the UK. I think though that blowing up a good number of cesspit london boroughs will do wonders for the crime rate.

i wonder how many law abiding citizens have died cursing that law that took away their right to self defense.

umm ... all of them

500-odd people a year (see above)

what ... no link?

your words (numbers) may ... or may not be accurate ...

Home Office website. I looked at it, so can you.

so many options for stats ...

Home Office

Home Office

Home Office

Home Office

[Mark&Steph 0]

no ... this can't be ... it happened in the no gun zone called the UK

Not denying that there is plenty of gun crime in the UK, but this time, it wasn't.

The attacker then fired the gas-powered ball-bearing pistol three times... can be bought easily in high-street shops and on websites.

'If he had been carrying a real gun I would have been a widow."

I don't know about the legality of them, but the article seems to imply they can be legally bought (even if they can then be converted to illegally fire bullets)

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

My mum never mentions crime, I guess the scummy element hasn't reached anywhere near where she lives.

maybe she's an elitist too

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The UK is small, violent crime is relatively rare - all the statistics prove that.

Compared to the US though?

Pretty much everywhere has its problem areas - if you avoid those you'll more than likely be ok.

[Peikko 1,575]

The guy was shot three times at close range - in the US he would be dead. He isn't because the gun wasn't what anyone here in the US would recognize as a gun.

Yes, statistically the UK is very safe, even this so called 'knife' epidemic is less of a problem than it was in the 50's. Can the US claim any violent crime statistics that are lower now than they were in the 50's? Really, some people give too much sway to the stories put out by the sensationalist media.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The headlines in the UK are interesting if you look at the stats - when there's a 25% upswing in knife crime (for example), it only amounts to a relatively small number in real terms.

The headlines create the impression that its rife nationwide. Just isn't the case.

[Peikko 1,575]

Some people let 'feelings' of fear influence their decisions when they should really be using logic. Oh well

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Some people let 'feelings' of fear influence their decisions when they should really be using logic. Oh well

Its more or less the same thing with the moral panic over child molestation - with that stupid News of the World expose a few years ago.

Edited October 8, 2008 by Paul Daniels

[britty 1]

Some people let 'feelings' of fear influence their decisions when they should really be using logic. Oh well

Its more or less the same thing with the moral panic over child molestation - with that stupid News of the World expose a few years ago.

Sometimes I get so desperate for an English newspaper, I would probably read the News of the World. Does anyone know why the US insists on producing newspapers that are too large to read comfortably on the average cafe table? Also, why are there lots of separate sheets that just fall out and won't fold? I actually think the Brits could teach the newspaper industry here in the US a thing or two.

[maliciant 7]

Am I the only one who noticed the irony here... the black guy got shot three times for wearing, a shirt with a black guy on it. My gut just screams that this particular story sounds made up... half way through the article... oh yeah, and he's a white guy with a shaved head! Maybe that's just how they write in the UK but anyway... if you feel it's a good idea to shoot someone for wearing a barrack obama shirt because barrack obama is black, then why not just shot someone for actually being black... basically the part that makes no sense here is accusing a white man of being a racist just because he shot a black man... I suspect he's not a racism and just really dislikes barrack obama's political campaign, and that race had little to do with it (of course yeah... there was the reported racial slurs but I already suspect that article is not completely on the up and up).

That said it'll be a shame if the shooter gets away with this, it's also too bad that the victim didn't run the guy down with his significantly deadlier weapon, his car... but as the article said he was bleeding profusely (or just thought he was... it wasn't clear and he didn't look too horrifically damaged from the attack in his picture).