Forbury Gardens incident

[ItsInTheShed]

just seen this on twitter.....people stabbed in the park?

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-reading-incident-police-air-22226334

So, I scrolled down 4 pages of the Active threads to see if there were any discussions about this - nothing!

This is literally the only thread on this terrible incident. Loads of threads and heated debate about George Floyd, but 3 white, gay men singled out and butchered and everyone is looking busy.

Thanks for starting this thread but I'm really peeved that summer toes and comments on the heat get more clicks than these 3 men are getting.

It's not clear at all that they were targeted because they were gay. The blagrave is a stones throw from the park and they were sitting together.

Weird isn't it @SpocksEyebrows.

Being gay may turn out to be irrelevant. It was a targeted attack. It took planning, a weapon and thought. It has been classed as terrorism and is no different than the other terrorist attacks on our society in previous years - Manchester, London Bridge, except for the lack of outrage.

'This is literally the only thread on this terrible incident. Loads of threads and heated debate about George Floyd, but 3 white, gay men singled out and butchered and everyone is looking busy.'

It's weird isn't it. I said that earlier, I thought aibu or chat would have had threads with people horrified.

I understand that one asylum seeker does not represent all asylum seekers, it's just a shame that the far left don't understand that one police officer in the US does not represent all white people and all police officers in the UK. Imagine if we started carrying placards with 'asylum seekers stop stabbing white gay men'?! It would be abhorrent wouldn't it.

@LadyFlumpalot me too, 1998+

My friend and I were chatting online when she suddenly sent a newslink about it. It had just happened and there wasn't any confirmation of numbers etc. It just felt weird, very very weird. There have been incidents there before, back when I was a teenager I remember some, because as a very large group of alt kids we often slept under the bandstand, knew everyone, the gardens were a haven for us (probably less so for other people who didn't appreciate the noise, particularly when we borrowed electricity from under the bandstand to put rock and metal music on.

My eldest is nearly the same age as I was then, and I just can't help thinking that could be her in two years time, sitting somewhere we feel safe, with friends. We knew it wasn't that safe, all those years ago, but only because we knew a few individuals who carried a knife, or who had been in trouble before. When it's someone random like this, it's completely unexpected.

@SaesCymro - yes, late 90's! I wonder if we know each other? I was only on the edges of the group, but one of my best friends was always there - she later passed away and has a memorial bench in the gardens now.

The forbury Gardens is very different to the late nineties - early naughties place where goths and emos hung out. It's a place where they have festivals, pop up street food in the summer, summer music on the bandstand every Sunday afternoon, just generally where people sit about, have picnics, etc. It's at the epicentre of Reading, to the side of the Abbey Ruins etc.

Douglas Murray has done a good article about this.
www.spectator.co.uk/article/what-isn-t-being-mentioned-about-the-reading-attack-victims-

Good article MaMa.

I thought in the reason it isn't being mentioned is because we don't know whether it is relevant.

We do not know how the suspect awaiting trial, selected which of the many small groups of people sitting in the park to attack. There is no reason to think it is unusual that a group of friends, who happen to be gay, would meet there, or to expect that their orientation couid be accurately known just from looking.

Frustratingly, we will not learn any more about the detail of the attack, and whether the group was chosen at random or selected, until trial.

The AG has already issued a warning about not reporting on sub judice matters, so press will be careful to stick to the rules (as they always should)

It's so sad. That was my teenage stamping ground. Many evenings spent chatting in the gardens before getting the train home.

Were the other people attacked but recovered also gay?

Have we heard anything about them?

Douglas Murray, the person who thinks that homophobia, racism and sexism are all sorted now.

www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/19/the-madness-of-crowds-review-gender-race-identity-douglas-murray

I feel for those people who hate 'foreigners' but also hate LGBT people. (Not that I am saying Murray is like that). When gay people are attacked by a member of a group who they also hate, what are they supposed to do?

SpocksEyebrows

So, I scrolled down 4 pages of the Active threads to see if there were any discussions about this - nothing!

This is literally the only thread on this terrible incident. Loads of threads and heated debate about George Floyd, but 3 white, gay men singled out and butchered and everyone is looking busy.

Thanks for starting this thread but I'm really peeved that summer toes and comments on the heat get more clicks than these 3 men are getting.

Comments above are stupid. It’s not just about George Floyd! This is why BLM protests are needed. You are still not listening. Police in America (and elsewhere) have been killing hundreds of black people. Black people are still suffering institutional racism all over the world. It is time to stop and time for people like you to start listening. Time to remove the knee on black peoples’ necks. George Floyd’s death was a catalyst to restart the conversation about race relations. The whole movement is bigger than one man. Rest in peace GF and all other victims of racial discrimination.

And of course my heart goes out to the families affected by the recent, horrific, barbaric attack.

when I started the thread I had a good look first for an existing one

but obviously no,couldnt see one. its completely brushed under the carpet

Comments above are stupid. It’s not just about George Floyd! This is why BLM protests are needed. You are still not listening. Police in America (and elsewhere) have been killing hundreds of black people.

This is really off-topic for this thread, but police in America kill hundreds of people of all races. The white ones don't get news coverage, so there will be a high degree of reinforcement bias as to 'US cops killing black people', since only stories that reinforce that narrative are reported.

The cops really don't kill people in the UK on at all the same scale, thankfully.

George Floyd’s death was a catalyst to restart the conversation about race relations.

It really hasn't been a conversation though. We've had riots, mass protests, some dubious organisations asking for money, increased polarisation.

@ItsInTheShed why do you think it's brushed under the carpet because people don't want to speculate or take part in competitive grieving? What a bizarre thing to say. The case is sub judice and you'd be an utter idiot to speculate about it online.

@rumred

What concerns me is there's no discussion about the fact that all the people killed were gay. Looks like a hate crime to me

They are friends, they were together in the park. Nobody in their right mind is going to assume that 3 men together are automatically gay whether they are near a gay pub or not. I regularly drive past all male or all female small groups of cyclists, I don't make assumptions about their sexuality.

They are friends, they were together in the park. Nobody in their right mind is going to assume that 3 men together are automatically gay whether they are near a gay pub or not.

Eh? Don't we clock such things all the time? Not that 3 men together are necessarily gay, but we might perceive (correctly or not) that someone is gay. That's even more likely when everyone in a group is gay.

More black people are killed by police in the US compared to other races. Protests are necessary as people have refused to listen. There has been reviews and investigations followed by recommendations. Nothing gets done. Black people just want equality.

I knew one of the victims. Believe me, you knew he was gay within seconds of being in his vicinity. You just knew.... fabulous, fabulous human being.

I, like others, am very shocked at how little attention the attack is getting compared to other stories and very surprised more isn't being made of the fact all three victims were gay. It might not be relevant but it certainly needs discussing and addressing.

@SueEllenMishke I am sorry for your loss. I recognise one of them,but probably just a face I've 'seen' around town, or possibly in the Blagrave, rather than someone I know.

Maybe their sexuality is relevant, maybe its not. Maybe the attacker knew they were gay. Maybe it's a coincidence. Whatever the answer (and speculation probably doesn't help) my heart is broken for my much loved town. My younger teen who has just started planning to venture further than the local park with his friends (Forbury was high on their list of places to go) is now too scared to go there. :(

Thank you. It's all so very sad.

It is frightening. Parks have been all we've had during lockdown and they suddenly don't feel safe.