To feel really scared/sorry for 21yr old Syrian "bomber"

[greenballsoffire]

From what you can work out in the media the elder one of the 2 boys being fostered probably had nothing to do with the bombing other than being fostered by the couple who had taken in the one who probably did do it

The media has reported the 18 year old as being described as a nightmare

And the older one as very polite and lovely ( I know that doesn't make him innocent but he's been released without being charged too)

And yet he's the one with his photos splashed all over the media not the 18 year old...

I feel like he's going to have no life now and always be thought of being involved and a terrorist... when it looks like he is just unfortunate to live there

The couple hasn't reported the 18 year old themselves other than saying they couldn't handle him and looking to terminate the placement so it's not fair either to say he must have known and should have reported as it seems as though none of them knew a terror incident was being plotted under their roof...

I'm being honest if I got into a tube today and saw the 21 year old, I'd recognise him... and I would get off the tube and I'd be frightened.

BUT I'd feel very guilty and ashamed then because he IS innocent as far as it seems, the media gives no reason to suspect any more than the parents that he wanted a bomb to go off on the tube and kill people.

My fear comes purely and irrationally because he is the current face of the bomb

I'm frightened for him right now. I would never attack another being purposefully out of fear... but I suspect quite a few people would and we have no other face but his being "linked" (at least other than the court drawing I saw earlier, I haven't read the news since then today)

As I said, ashamed.

it's always sad to see healthy human beings doing things that have long lasting negative repercussions.
it is however worse for those who loose their lives or are scarred for the rest of their lives.

Sorry I don't mean I don't feel sorry for those injured and psychologically scarred, of course I do

I just mean that it's unfair to be the face of the bomb when you're not and I don't think he'll be safe because of it

For those of you who feel sorry for the 18 year old who planted a bomb on the Tube, I assume you are trolls. If you are serious, then you are the kind of people who are responsible for the UK being seen as a soft target. If you feel sorry for the terrorists then you are deranged.

I'm not even close to being deranged. I feel sorry for a young man barely more than a child who has been to hell and back and has been radicalised because of it. What chance did he stand? Syrian people don't get to Europe by hopping on a ferry: he would have spent months terrified for his life, he will have seen his friends and family killed. refugees trying to reach safety in a European country where they have friends and family are treated like absolute dirt. One only has to consider that not one child has ben allowed entry under Dubs this year to see that .

Yes, I feel for him. And all the others associated with him. He is little more than a child.

Pingu you do not know his background. Also, many people go through traumatic experiences without wanting to blow people up. Stop making excuses for killers who would murder you given half the chance.

Yes, I feel sorry for him.

And ashamed of what this country has become.

Do you realise why he was arrested? As far as I can gather the reason why he was arrested was because the 18 year old who had been charged was using his identity for his terror operations. Which would make sense as they are a similar age and appearance and he may have been able to access documentation to pose as him and he would have been on the same electoral role having recently moved out.

Given an attack had actually happened and another one was likely to be imminent and it's also likely lots of bomb making material was ordered in Yayah's name what would you have suggested they did? Let someone who was potentially in possession of the materials to make a bomb and capable of doing it go and risk hundreds of lives in case his Mum was upset? Jesus wept.

Many people do go through traumatic experiences and not respond with wanting to kill people and my post wasn't about the 18 year old but since it's been raised I do agree with pingu in that I think our media simplifies things to it being an attack on our western culture and I think that's not entirely true as their reasons - I can't speak for him obviously but I think terrorist actions are often taken not as "revenge" quite so simply but as a fucked up way to try and prevent something bigger - to scare our government into withdrawing in these countries and in their minds prevent even more loss of life.

I don't agree with their actions or sympathise with them but I don't think it's as straightforward as "hate" and I can't imagine seeing lots of loss of life of your own people and feeling peacefully demonstrating on marches is going to do all that much

I see radicalisation as a form of grooming. Unfortunately, often with dire consequences extending far beyond the radicalised individual.

I agree with the 21 year old being detained and questioned... that made sense, and obviously he's now been released without charge and can probably understand himself why that happened if his identity was being used

I don't agree with him being the media's "face" instead of the 18 year old

YANBU OP. Growing up I shared my surname with the leader of a terrorist group. He was a distant relative, we never met and I was a child! The security forces still made my life a fucking misery and I am targeted at airports all these years later (despite a name change).

There were no photos, it was before the Internet and I was never actually accused of anything. This giy'so life will be forever impacted.

I simply cannot believe people are excusing a terrorists actions.

18 is not a child. 18 is a fully grown man in the eyes of the law, and it seems he chose to plant a bomb on a tube train, full of commuters and children going to school.

I hope he rots in hell and have no sympathy whtsoever

Actually when I first saw his pic in the paper I said to my husband that I though he had just been arrested because he had been living in close proximity to the other suspect.

Lots of people will think like me and it will blow over in time. The papers shouldn't have used his image so readily though but I expect it was leaked by the police anyhow.

I don't feel sorry for anyone though. A major catastrophe was narrowly avoided and you have to expect some fall out in the subsequent investigations.

Why the hell is this 21 year old ‘refugee’ here in this country when his family are safe in Egypt with a home there for him??

Ashamed?? Don’t care.....

PickAChew has hit the nail on the head, it's a form of grooming, just like a pedophile grooming a child online.

RunningOutOfCharge it's exactly your attitude that's wrong with this world in my opinion. God forbid something happened and we became refugees ... boot would be on the other foot then, eh?

SirWibbles it is a perfectly valid question. If he has a family in Egypt why is he here?

Pingu and Greenballs, I cannot believe I am trying to argue against MN terrorist sympathisers.

It is a fair question and I think avoiding answering it by blustering about being ashamed of what the country has become has actually led to, not away from, a lot of prejudice and hate.

Op and a few others on here, I agree entirely. But for some on mn if you have empathy for one group then there appears to be a rule that you cannot also have empathy for another...
People are either good or bad and if you recognise that trauma and abuse can lead to disturbing and even violent behaviour then you are a virtue signaller who supports terrorism!
Although mental health provision is poor and being cut to pieces- and over 50 percent of care leavers end up in the criminal justice system which is tragic and shocking- there is understanding that children and adolescents- these boys are both adolescents in terms of their brain development, who hurt - need serious help as well as boundaries- if there is any hope of change.
And that understanding and then ideally treating causes of criminal behaviour is prevantative not endorsing.

wibble nah, he was no refugee mate! His parents managed to set themselves up nicely in Egypt....

As I said,I do not care!

Oh, and if I ever became a refugee I would not bomb my host country or standby watching whilst my family member did!

No I feel sorry for the people who were burnt on the Tube, the 21 year old will be forgotten about.

I live extremely close to where they lived. I've eaten in the 21-year olds workplace. Hell, I've probably been served by him before but couldn't say for sure.

Believe me when I tell you people will not forget. Some people, yes. But anybody who knows him/his workplace/his friends will always remember what happened. AFAIK his workplace and some staff member have received threats as a result of this. Hugely unfair to be painted so horribly by the media.

I feel so bad for him. His life will never be the same.

I wish people would stop calling him a refugee, he's nothing of the sort.

His home country is safe, and he has a family still over there who, by all accounts, aren't suffering either psychologically or financially.
He's an economic tourist, not an orphaned refugee to pity.

It's sad. Similar situation with somebody (I think he was a secondary teacher) accused of some pedophilic crimes a few years back too. Why splash their names and faces all over the place, especially for something so huge that stirs up so much emotion, if they're just a suspect and nothing proven yet. It's not like they're accusing them of something small that people will forget.