source: Ken Fero: Migrant Media

published: 9 September 2023

Image Credit: Simon Howden at www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The British media went into overdrive last year to mourn the death of Queen Elizabeth II. We were subjected to 24/7 reporting led by the BBC lamenting this ‘loss’ and urging the people of the UK, the Commonwealth and even the world to mourn the death of someone who, to some of us, was a symbol of white supremacy and is the head of a police force that kills with impunity.

Just two days before the death of this nonagenarian a young black man, Chris Kaba, was executed by officers of the Metropolitan Police force. On the 5th September 24 year old Mr Kaba, a musician who was expecting his first child, was shot dead by armed police officers in South London. A family went into mourning. A child will never know their father.

The British media did not afford Mr Kaba, or his family, the same respect or the same resources that it would unleash for their departed Queen, who died a lot more peacefully, three days later. Instead sections of the media went into the usual overdrive, questioning Mr Kaba’s past as they do in every case of this nature.

What we saw was the tactic of ‘blaming the victim’, a deflective technique used by media that Edward Said outlined so brilliantly when writing about how Palestinians are blamed for their own death at the hands of the Israeli armed forces to justify their own violence.

How fast was Mr Kaba driving? Did he have a gun or not? (He didn’t.) How violent were the lyrics of his music? These highly speculative questions were designed to do one thing alone in our minds, deflect the violence away from the officer that pulled the trigger and try to justify the actions of the state.

The family of Mr Kaba continue to undertake a long and tortuous journey within the British judicial system as they seek answers and justice. They may get the first but the second is more elusive.

Out of more than two thousand deaths at the hands/in the care of the police since the first recorded policing death of David Oluwale there have only been three successful prosecutions of police officers for these killings, those of Henry Foley, Dalian Atkinson and Sarah Everard.

This means that the family of Chris Kaba only have a 0.15% chance of success, but of course they will not give up as the many hundreds of families whose loved ones have died in police hands have shown through endless individual and joint campaigns over the last 40 years.

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