Latest news with #VincentMiller
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First Post
27-05-2025
- First Post
Liverpool parade crash: Why Europe is witnessing a rise in car-ramming attacks
Dozens of people in Liverpool were injured, including four children, after a minivan rammed into a crowd during a Premier League victory parade for Liverpool Football Club. There have been several such attacks in Europe since 2009. But why is this happening? What do experts say? read more Forensic officers prepare equipment near the site where a 53-year-old British man plowed a minivan into a crowd of Liverpool soccer fans who were celebrating the city's Premier League championship Monday. There have been at least nine such major incidents in Europe since 2009. AP Triumph turned into tragedy in Liverpool on Monday. Dozens of people were injured including four children after a minivan rammed into a crowd. The incident occurred during a Premier League victory parade for Liverpool Football Club. Authorities said a 53-year-old white, British man from Liverpool has been arrested. Authorities say there is no terrorism angle to the incident. But what do we know about the incidents? Why is there a rise in car rammings across Europe? STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Let's take a closer look What do we know? First, let's take a brief look at the use of cars as weapons. There have been at least nine such major incidents in Europe since 2009. This includes attacks in the UK, Germany, France and Netherlands. Time Magazine quoted a 2019 study from San Jose State University researchers as saying that 70 per cent of such Incidents had occurred in the past five years. In 2016, vehicle-ramming attacks were the most deadly form of attack. They comprised over half of all terrorism-related deaths that year. As per the National Transportation Security Center, there have been at least 15 vehicle-ramming attacks worldwide in which 71 were left dead. Why are cars used? As per DW, cars have become a weapon of choice for assailants due to their size, speed and maneuverability. They first became a popular weapon for terrorists to use in the mid-2010s in Israel. The Islamic State during that period also called for cars to be used as weapons in attacks. While most of these attacks had some link to religion and politics, this is not always the case. The outlet quoted sociologist Vincent Miller of Kent University in the UK and Keith Hayward, a professor of criminology at Copenhagen University, as arguing in a 2018 paper that car rammings were 'imitative' events. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD They claimed others were simply imitating incidents they had seen or read about rather than being motivated by a particular ideology. Miller pointed at such attacks in China – which have been called 'revenge on society' incidents. 'The people that are doing this are often quite aggrieved, there's a sense of injustice there, a sense of anger," Miller told DW. The argument that there are political or religious motivations don't seem to hold up, according to Miller and Hayward. 'Quite often they're very spur-of-the-moment or very hastily put together forms of attack,' Miller added. 'They're very diverse individuals. Some might be Muslim radicals, some might be American right-wing activists, some people have mental health problems. The profile of the perpetrator is very hard to define. The main thing they have in common is the act.' 'It subconsciously becomes part of the repertoire of options for people to express their anger in some way and they get exposed to it through the vectors of the media and social media,' Miller added. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Experts say cars have become a weapon of choice for assailants due to their size, speed and maneuverability. AP Experts have pointed to myriad reasons why people use cars as a weapon. 'This tactic requires little or no training, no specific skillset, and carries a relatively low risk of early detection,' non-profit global policy think tank Rand said, as per Time Magazine. A 2021 report by about how about cars on rent or in vehicle-sharing schemes are used found a number of reasons – including not much cooperation between police and industry, employees not being trained on how to recognise a potential attacker and not enough background checks on those renting the vehicles. Ryan Houser, a terrorism and mass-casualty-attack researcher and consultant who conducted a 2022 study on such attacks, told USA Today, 'Vehicle ramming attacks have the ability to further democratise terrorism as a successful attack that merely requires a willingness to kill and can be completed by only one actor.' 'The increased prevalence of outdoor activities and gatherings in a post-COVID-19 world will further expose large numbers of people to potential vulnerabilities within security that place them at risk of being the victim of vehicle-based terrorism.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Pauline Paille, a specialist at RAND Europe, was involved in putting together a 2022 report for the European Commission on how to stop car attacks. 'It's a bit difficult to understand what the motivations are and if there is an actual pattern, or if it is just a collection of isolated events,' Paille told DW. 'I don't think this is a threat that is unique to Europe and with regards to the psychology, I think it very much depends on the kind of motivations and political objective that those who attack have.' 'A car, a knife—these are everyday items, often it's very unclear that someone has bad intentions with them until it's too late,' Bart Schuurman, professor of terrorism and political violence at Leiden University, told Euronews A brief look at the incidents London 2025: A 53-year-old British man plowed his minivan into a crowd of Liverpool soccer fans who had been celebrating the city team's Premier League soccer championship, as shouts of joy turned into shrieks of terror, injuring more than 45 people. Germany 2024: At least five people are killed and more than 200 are injured when a car slams into a Christmas market in eastern Germany. Police arrest a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia who supports Germany's far-right AfD party. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Spain 2017: A man rams a van into people on the Spanish city's crowded Las Ramblas boulevard, killing 14 and injuring others. The Islamic State group claims responsibility. Several members of the same extremist cell carry out a similar attack in the nearby resort town of Cambrils, killing one person. UK 2017: Darren Osborne, a man radicalised by far-right ideas, drives a van into worshippers outside a mosque in Finsbury Park, killing one man and injuring 15 people. Osborne is sentenced to life in prison. Spain 2017: A man rams a van into people on the Spanish city's crowded Las Ramblas boulevard, killing 14 and injuring others. The Islamic State group claims responsibility. Several members of the same extremist cell carry out a similar attack in the nearby resort town of Cambrils, killing one person. UK 2017: Darren Osborne, a man radicalised by far-right ideas, drives a van into worshippers outside a mosque in Finsbury Park, killing one man and injuring 15 people. Osborne is sentenced to life in prison. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD UK 2017: Three attackers drive a van into pedestrians on London Bridge before stabbing people in nearby Borough Market. Eight people are killed and the attackers are shot dead by police. UK 2017: Khalid Masood rams an SUV into people on Westminster Bridge, killing four, then fatally stabs a policeman guarding the Houses of Parliament. Masood is shot dead. Germany 2016: Anis Amri, a rejected asylum-seeker from Tunisia, plows a hijacked truck into a Christmas market in the German capital, killing 13 people and injuring dozens. The attacker is killed days later in a shootout in Italy. France 2016: Tunisian-born French resident Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel drives a rented truck along a packed seaside promenade in the French Riviera resort on the Bastille Day holiday, killing 86 people in the deadliest attack of its kind. He is killed by police, but eight other people are sentenced to prison for helping orchestrate the attack. Netherlands 2009: Former security guard Karst Tates drives a car into parade spectators in an attempt to hit an open-topped bus carrying members of the Dutch royal family. Six people are killed and Tates dies of injuries the next day, leaving his full motive a mystery. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD With inputs from agencies
Time of India
27-05-2025
- Time of India
Liverpool Car-Ramming Attack: Why such incidents are hard to prevent
A Police officer stands on the street where a 53-year-old British man plowed a minivan into a crowd of Liverpool soccer fans who were celebrating the city's Premier League championship Monday, injuring more than 45 people in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, May 27, 2025.(AP Photo/Jon Super) In the latest reminder of how vulnerable public gatherings remain to vehicle-ramming incidents, a minivan tore through a jubilant crowd in Liverpool on May 26, injuring more than 45 people—including children—during the city's Premier League victory parade. The attacker, a 53-year-old white British man, was arrested, but authorities have said there is no indication of terrorism, at least for now. Yet the incident adds to a growing list of ramming attacks that have plagued cities across the globe—from Vancouver to Munich, Magdeburg to New Orleans and Zhuhai. In just the past six months, such attacks have killed 71 people, according to the National Transportation Security Center. So why are these attacks becoming more frequent? And why are they so difficult to stop? 1. Easy to Execute, Hard to Predict Unlike bombings or coordinated shootings, car-ramming attacks require no sophisticated weapons, no advanced training, and often no formal planning. As Rand Corporation notes, 'this tactic requires little or no training... and carries a relatively low risk of early detection.' A vehicle is an everyday object. It doesn't raise suspicion until it's already in motion—and by then, it's too late. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Trekking pants for mountain sports and adventure travel Trek Kit India Shop Now Undo 2. Not Just Terrorism—A Complex Web of Motives While some ramming incidents are classified as terrorism—such as the 2016 Nice Bastille Day attack or the 2025 New Year's Day massacre in New Orleans—others are driven by mental health issues or fringe ideologies. There's also a growing trend of "lone actor" violence with diverse motivations. Right-wing extremism and misogynist ideologies have been linked to attacks like the Charlottesville protest ramming in 2017 and the Toronto 'incel' van attack in 2018. This diversity in perpetrators complicates any effort to define a single 'profile' of the attacker. 3. The Contagion Effect A 2018 academic study described vehicle-ramming as an 'imitative' act. Once it enters public consciousness—through news, social media, and pop culture—it can be subconsciously added to an individual's menu of options for expressing rage or dissent. 'It becomes part of the repertoire,' sociologist Vincent Miller noted. 'The profile of the perpetrator is very hard to define. The main thing they have in common is the act.' 4. Rental Gaps and Urban Design Flaws Some attackers use rented or borrowed vehicles, exploiting lax security checks or poor data sharing between rental agencies and authorities. The 2021 Rand report noted a lack of industry-wide procedures, such as background checks or geofencing, that could restrict vehicle movement into pedestrian zones. Similarly, urban planning in many cities hasn't caught up with new threats. Wide, open boulevards without bollards or barriers offer a clear path for destruction. 5. What Can Be Done? For the public: Run away from the vehicle's path immediately. If you fall, curl up to protect yourself and rise as soon as possible. Seek cover behind fixed objects like trees, walls, or lamp posts. Call emergency services and follow first responders' instructions. For organisers: Use bollards, planters, and barricades to keep vehicles away. Design controlled perimeters and restrict vehicle entry to crowds. Position heavy vehicles as mobile barriers at strategic points. Use remote parking and shuttle systems to limit unauthorised vehicle access. Bottom Line Car-ramming attacks exploit the ordinary to create extraordinary chaos. They bypass traditional counter-terror frameworks and flourish in a media-saturated world that inadvertently amplifies them. From a security standpoint, they represent one of the hardest threats to anticipate—and one of the most harrowing to endure. As Liverpool's trauma joins a growing global list, the urgency to rethink urban security has never been clearer.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Yahoo
Lawsuit over alleged Banditos deputy gang assault at Kennedy Hall settles on eve of trial
An expansive lawsuit filed by eight Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies who said they were attacked by members of an alleged deputy gang known as the Banditos has reached a settlement, according to court records. The case stemmed from an off-duty brawl in 2018 outside Kennedy Hall, an event space in East L.A. The following year, deputies from the East L.A. sheriff's station filed suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court, describing the incident as an attack launched by alleged deputy gang members, one of whom they said strangled another deputy 'in an apparent attempt to murder him.' Prior to the Kennedy Hall violence, the deputies said they'd been repeatedly harassed, pressured to quit and 'terrorized' by members of the Banditos, who they accused of withholding backup on dangerous calls. The suit's claims included harassment, racial discrimination and unlawful retaliation. As of last year, the deputies were asking for $80 million, along with specific policy changes to prevent future abuses. The three-page notice of a conditional settlement filed Thursday morning did not specify the dollar amount or terms of the proposed agreement, which must be accepted by the Los Angeles County Claims Board and approved by L.A. County Board of Supervisors — a process that often takes weeks or months. Read more: Spade tattoo revealed in L.A. deputy's plea revives questions about Lakewood station gang Vincent Miller, the attorney representing all eight of the deputy plaintiffs, declined to comment on the size or scope of the agreement. "I can't talk about the settlement; it's confidential," he told The Times on Friday. "But I do hope this is the start of my clients putting what has been a nightmare behind them." Attorneys for the county and the eight deputies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Sheriff's Department said it was reviewing the case and would provide comment later. News of the settlement comes on the eve of trial, which was expected to begin in February and potentially last several months. However, the agreement does not fully resolve the claims at issue, which included allegations by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California that the county has been "wasting" money by funding 'illegal activities' of the Sheriff's Department. In the coming months, the county and the civil rights organization are expected to continue moving toward a settlement. On Friday during a remote hearing, Judge Ruth Ann Kwan scheduled a status conference for May 22 to hear updates on the negotiations. The case began in the fall of 2019, when the eight East L.A. deputies — Art Hernandez, Alfred Gonzalez, Benjamin Zaredini, David Casas, Louis Granados, Mario Contreras, Oscar Escobedo and Ariela Lemus — sued both the county and four alleged Banditos. Three of the defendants have since been fired, and one retired before he could be terminated. The allegations centered on the Banditos, said to be a clique of predominantly Latino deputies who sport tattoos of a skeleton with a sombrero, bandoleer and pistol. According to the lawsuit, some of the group's alleged members go by names such as 'the Godfather' and 'Bam Bam.' The group has long controlled the East L.A. station, according to the suit, and its members have allegedly pressured younger Latino deputies to work excessive hours and demanded that they pay 'taxes' to gang members. In the early hours of Sept. 18, 2018, the suit says, several alleged Banditos members showed up to the Kennedy Hall party with a plan to beat up a newer deputy who had begun training at the station the year before. Read more: 'A thief and a crooked cop': L.A. deputy committed crimes for crypto mogul, feds say Later, as the party wound down in the early morning hours, they approached him in the parking lot, at one point threatening his family, the lawsuit says. Other deputies tried to intervene. One — Art Hernandez, now a plaintiff — reportedly was knocked to the ground and punched multiple times in the face. When he got up, he was knocked unconscious. Another was strangled and lost consciousness. Both were later hospitalized. The district attorney's office declined to pursue criminal charges against any deputies accused of bad behavior in relation to the Kennedy Hall incident, saying in 2020 that there wasn't enough evidence to move forward because it was dark out and everyone involved had been drinking. The deputies who filed the suit have since been transferred to other stations. After the deputies filed their suit, the ACLU of Southern California joined as a plaintiff suing on behalf of local taxpayers. 'The County has repeatedly settled lawsuits resulting from violence, harassment and other forms of misconduct perpetuated by deputy gang members and required nondisclosure agreements to cover up the facts,' the civil rights group alleged in court filings. 'The County is additionally wasting funds through authorizing funds for LASD with the knowledge that those funds are being used to further illegal activities of LASD.' The ACLU is seeking what's known as injunctive relief, such as changes to department policies or procedures. After taking office in 2022, Sheriff Robert Luna began tackling what he has acknowledged is the department's longstanding problem with violent groups of deputies running roughshod over certain stations, including the one in East L.A. In early 2023, Luna announced the appointment of a former federal prosecutor to combat those problems within the department. 'This new office will be tasked with helping to eradicate all deputy gangs from this department,' Luna said at the time. 'I will have an absolute zero tolerance for this type of conduct.' Last year, Luna unveiled a new anti-gang policy that banned being in a deputy gang or hate group and required department employees to participate in investigations into them. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
31-01-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Lawsuit over alleged Banditos deputy gang assault at Kennedy Hall settles on eve of trial
An expansive lawsuit filed by eight Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies who said they were attacked by members of an alleged deputy gang known as the Banditos has reached a settlement, according to court records. The case stemmed from an off-duty brawl in 2018 outside Kennedy Hall, an event space in East L.A. The following year, deputies from the East L.A. sheriff's station filed suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court, describing the incident as an attack launched by alleged deputy gang members, one of whom they said strangled another deputy 'in an apparent attempt to murder him.' Prior to the Kennedy Hall violence, the deputies said they'd been repeatedly harassed, pressured to quit and 'terrorized' by members of the Banditos, who they accused of withholding backup on dangerous calls. The suit's claims included harassment, racial discrimination and unlawful retaliation. As of last year, the deputies were asking for $80 million, along with specific policy changes to prevent future abuses. The three-page notice of a conditional settlement filed Thursday morning did not specify the dollar amount or terms of the proposed agreement, which must be accepted by the Los Angeles County Claims Board and approved by L.A. County Board of Supervisors — a process that often takes weeks or months. Vincent Miller, the attorney representing all eight of the deputy plaintiffs, declined to comment on the size or scope of the agreement. 'I can't talk about the settlement; it's confidential,' he told The Times on Friday. 'But I do hope this is the start of my clients putting what has been a nightmare behind them.' Attorneys for the county and the eight deputies did not immediately responded to requests for comment. The Sheriff's Department said it was reviewing the case and would provide comment later. News of the settlement comes on the eve of trial, which was expected to begin in February and potentially last several months. However, the agreement does not fully resolve the claims at issue, which included allegations by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California that the county has been 'wasting' money by funding 'illegal activities' of the Sheriff's Department. In the coming months, the county and the civil rights organization are expected to continue moving toward a settlement. On Friday during a remote hearing, Judge Ruth Ann Kwan scheduled a status conference for May 22 to hear updates on the negotiations. The case began in the fall of 2019, when the eight East L.A. deputies — Art Hernandez, Alfred Gonzalez, Benjamin Zaredini, David Casas, Louis Granados, Mario Contreras, Oscar Escobedo and Ariela Lemus — sued both the county and four alleged Banditos. Three of the defendants have since been fired, and one retired before he could be terminated. The allegations centered on the Banditos, said to be a clique of predominantly Latino deputies who sport tattoos of a skeleton with a sombrero, bandoleer and pistol. According to the lawsuit, some of the group's alleged members go by names such as 'the Godfather' and 'Bam Bam.' The group has long controlled the East L.A. station, according to the suit, and its members have allegedly pressured younger Latino deputies to work excessive hours and demanded that they pay 'taxes' to gang members. In the early hours of Sept. 18, 2018, the suit says, several alleged Banditos members showed up to the Kennedy Hall party with a plan to beat up a newer deputy who had begun training at the station the year before. Later, as the party wound down in the early morning hours, they approached him in the parking lot, at one point threatening his family, the lawsuit says. Other deputies tried to intervene. One — Art Hernandez, now a plaintiff — reportedly was knocked to the ground and punched multiple times in the face. When he got up, he was knocked unconscious. Another was strangled and lost consciousness. Both were later hospitalized. The district attorney's office declined to pursue criminal charges against any deputies accused of bad behavior in relation to the Kennedy Hall incident, saying in 2020 that there wasn't enough evidence to move forward because it was dark out and everyone involved had been drinking. The deputies who filed the suit have since been transferred to other stations. After the deputies filed their suit, the ACLU of Southern California joined as a plaintiff suing on behalf of local taxpayer. 'The County has repeatedly settled lawsuits resulting from violence, harassment and other forms of misconduct perpetuated by deputy gang members and required nondisclosure agreements to cover up the facts,' the civil rights group alleged in court filings. 'The County is additionally wasting funds through authorizing funds for LASD with the knowledge that those funds are being used to further illegal activities of LASD.' The ACLU is seeking what's known as injunctive relief, such as changes to department policies or procedures. After taking office in 2022, Sheriff Robert Luna began tackling what he has acknowledged is the department's longstanding problem with violent groups of deputies running roughshod over certain stations, including the one in East L.A. In early 2023, Luna announced the appointment of a former federal prosecutor to combat those problems within the department. 'This new office will be tasked with helping to eradicate all deputy gangs from this department,' Luna said at the time. 'I will have an absolute zero tolerance for this type of conduct.' Last year, Luna unveiled a new anti-gang policy that banned being in a deputy gang or hate group and required department employees to participate in investigations into them.
