by Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and Sadiq Khan have been asked to apologize after criticizing the police over the shooting of violent gangster Chris Kaba.
The liberal Left has been accused of treating Kaba as an innocent victim of police violence despite his extensive criminal history.
It took a jury at the Old Bailey just three hours to clear Sergeant Martyn Blake of murdering Kaba after a three-week trial, after the 23-year-old was stopped and shot by armed police in South London in 2022.
Details of Kaba’s violent past were released on Tuesday and revealed he was a leading member of a gang involved in gun crime and drug dealing. His family, who insisted that Kaba had turned his life around and wanted to become an architect, tried to prevent the press from reporting such details.
Lord Stevens, the former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said that some politicians were too quick to jump on a bandwagon that compared the death of Kaba to the death of George Floyd, an African American man who murdered a United States police officer in Minneapolis in 2020.
Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick criticized many charities, NGOs and far-left politicians for “jumping” into the shooting “to defend their pre-existing prejudices”.
Sir Jacob Rees Mogg, a former Tory Taoiseach, also accused Sadiq Khan of contacting the Independent Policing Office, which was investigating the Kaba shooting, despite the London mayor’s likely knowledge of Kaba’s criminal history .
Lord Stevens, the crossbench peer who was Met commissioner from 2000 to 2005, said many people assumed that Caba was an innocent man.
“People have to stop and think. I believe the liberal Left should apologise, now it has emerged that his background included being involved in the shooting and pursuit of a man outside at night just days before his death,” he told the Telegraph.
“We accept what he was and what he did.”
Describing Kaba’s death as a tragedy, Lord Stevens said: “You can see why he acted the way he did in that car; he wanted to escape from the police and was desperate to do so. I think those who did it should apologize.”
He said he felt it was wrong for Kaba’s family to try to “celebrate” his extensive criminal history, adding: “We have an open society and people need to understand what we are dealing with. “
Shortly after the 2022 shooting, Black Lives Matter held a demonstration in which protesters declared the police murderers and called for the Met force to be abolished.
Stormzy, the rapper, addressed the crowd and supported the family’s call for “accountability” as he said: “Nobody should be able to carry on like this.”
Mr Corbyn, the independent MP for Islington North and former leader of the Labor Party, attended the protest along with Ms Abbott, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Harriet Harman.
Mr Corbyn said his thoughts were with the Kaba family “as they fight for justice and accountability”. Ms Abbott, the MP for Hackney, told demonstrators: “I don’t know how I would feel if my son was killed in cold blood.”
Sir Jacob said those who misled the public about Kaba should be “ashamed”.
He told the Telegraph: “With Black Lives Matter trying to defund the police it’s no wonder left-wing supporters of Kaba prefer violence against law and order.
“But those who suggested he was a gangster should be ashamed of themselves because they have misled the public and fueled racial tension.
“This is especially true of Sadiq Khan, who should have known the background and was proud of being in close contact with the IOPC. As co-supervisor of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, his behavior was irresponsible to say the least.”
A spokesman for the Labor mayor said: “As with all fatal police shootings, it is for the IOPC to independently assess the full circumstances of the case and consider whether[s] Any act of misconduct should be involved.”
Mr Jenrick added: “Charities, NGOs and far-left politicians jumped on Chris Kaba’s case to defend their prejudices about the UK.
“Even now, after the firearms officer was acquitted by a full jury and the truth about Kaba’s violent past revealed, there are many baseless allegations of ‘state-based violence.’
“The British Left has infected America’s identity politics until they are now blind to the difference between right and wrong.
“They are so consumed by false narratives about racism in our country that they are defending the indefensible,” he said.
“In failing to support Martyn Blake, Sadiq Khan put the work of firearms officers at risk and put the safety of Londoners – from dangerous criminals like Kaba – at risk.”
The full extent of Kaba’s criminal history emerged on Tuesday after reporting restrictions on his criminal career were lifted.
In the early hours of August 30, 2022 – just six days before he died – Kaba and three other members of his gang smuggled a handgun into a Notting Hill Carnival after-party at a nightclub in east London.
CCTV captured him shooting a 23-year-old man in the leg. As the target tried to flee, Kaba followed him outside and shot him as he lay on the ground. The man lived.
He and his partners left in an Audi Q8, the same car he was driving on the evening he was shot dead.
on 4 September – the day before he was shot by police – Kaba and his gang were suspected of carrying out a gun attack on the occupants of a Mercedes car outside a primary school in Brixton.
Once again, the group used the Audi Q8 as their getaway car. Although the identity of the gunman was not discovered, analysis of Kaba’s clothing revealed gunshot residue.
Kaba’s criminal convictions date back to the age of 13. By his late teens, he had progressed from petty crime to serious violence with convictions for assault and grievous bodily harm.
In December 2022, the University of Greenwich said: “In September, we heard the heartbreaking news of the death of Chris Kaba, a 24-year-old musician and aspiring architect who was expecting a child with his fiancée. Two years ago, after the murder of George Floyd, our university pledged to do more to end institutional racism.
“It is vital that we all continue to be honest and humble about the challenges we face in the work to be done and unapologetically fight for equity and social justice.”
The statement now appears to have been deleted from his website.
At the time of his death, Kaba was a pregnant father, but court records also show he was served with a 28-day domestic violence protection order in April 2022 regarding the mother of his unborn child.
The order prohibited him from contacting her on social media or entering the street where she lived.
