Anyone else have a visceral reaction to the picture in the news of Axel the murderer

[Newyearnewmewoooop]

I’m not going to link or post his picture as he’s beyond evil and I can’t bear to look at him. I don’t want to be a grief vampire at all, that’s not what this post is about. I just wondered if anyone else has experienced such a response to it or anything else? I haven’t experienced it before

I'm not engaging with anybody who thinks people being sickened by this as van banging nonsense, thanks.

Not really, I just seen a coward that I hope never sees the outside world again.

You just did🙄

Said like a classic attention seeker.
You've had your airtime.

Are you going to engage with debating the comment I agreed with and the topic of the thread, or merely trade insults?

Neither.

Well, that's something at least.

I suspect many people of all races were repelled by Axel Rudakubana's police mugshot. It was an exceptionally startling and frightening image, - Hindley-esque - when you knew that he'd murdered three little girls and attempted to murder many more. And said he was glad he'd killed the girls.

If you're trying to make this about race, Kyle Clifford is obviously not 'white British' either. Clifford's murder of three adult women isn't more 'troubling'. Rudakubana killed little girls not little boys.

Rudakubana's crime isn't 'profoundly untypical' unless you think killing females is unusual for men.

You're right. Mental illness not presented as a defence at trial, Rudakubana was not committed to Broadmoor psychiatric prison, just 52 years in regular prison.

I'm not Jesus enough to be okay and forgive him. I'm really happy he's in prison for decades.

I can't bear to look at his image, I really can't so I do all I can not to!

I do think the media flashing this particular photo constantly is click baity though. Of course we are supposed to have visceral reactions.

Evil people in real life often look much nicer than that. One of DD’s friend’s former boyfriend was a truly evil person, a killer, now locked up for many years. I saw informal photos of him in the friendship group and he looks really nice. Smiling and gentle looking. It shocked me seeing photos that and knowing what he did.

Absolutely
The problem is that some monsters look like decent people, have decent jobs and are attractive which is why they are able to lure their victims

Hear hear. Great post and far better than the van banging nonsense in most of the thread

What's 'van banging nonsense', what are you on about?

Nobody can diagnose evil from a photo without the context of knowing what they've done.

I'm pretty sure people do know what he's done. Did you miss the victim statements and sentencing from the judge?

I think you don’t really understand what people are saying. It’s much more complex than evil v not evil, or even about him and the abhorrent thing that he did.

Thats ok, you don’t want to / have to, that’s how the media works.

Where?

I don't understand what you mean. He'd always done it. There was never any doubt that he'd done it. I saw absolutely no mainstream reporting suggesting that he hadn't done it or that this was anything other than an unspeakable and monstrous crime.

Are you aware of the details of his crime? Did you listen to statements on what he did?

There's often a point to be made about reactions to images of black people over white but probably not where the image is the mugshot of a newly convicted murderer of children.

Yes. This is natural. He enjoyed killing small children. We are biologically programmed to be repulsed and incensed by it.

I felt the same way about Fred West.

This is a great post and I think it gives a really clear context as to why these pictures are often used. It allows people to mentally distance themselves from the person and the awful thing they did.

‘This person is a monster / evil / inhuman and that’s why they did it’ is more palatable than ‘this is person who did something fucking horrifying which is unforgivable and they will probably rightfully never see the outside of a prison or hospital again but most of us will never understand why he did this’. Not understanding feels uncomfortable for lots of reasons, so we speak as if the have a devil inside them because it allows us to compartmentalise things. The media knows this, that’s why they use these photos.

Then anyone who recognises that it’s more complex is accused of being an apologist, not caring, lefty liberal, snowflake etc because it’s uncomfortable having that compartmentalisation challenged.

But just to be clear, those little girls and their families are central in my thoughts. The horror that the little girls must have experienced and the trauma their families continue to experience is beyond anything that most of us can comprehend. I'm not religious so don’t do ‘prayers’ but I really hope that they’re aware that they’re in people’s thoughts and good wishes for some sort of peace as time goes on.

Yes it’s hideous.

It’s not a ‘stock shot’, it is a mug shot, taken when he was arrested. These images are released only after a guilty verdict. A guilty plea or on sentencing, depending on the individual force.
The earlier pictures from when he was younger were the only pictures available at the time and were taken from the Internet. It’s not a conspiracy ffs! As a pp said, we always knew he’d done it. He was arrested at the scene!

The media knows this, that’s why they use these photos.

Which photo other than a mug shot should they use in this instance?