A Labour MP has provoked fury by accusing the media of poorly portraying Chris Kaba after his real identity as a notorious gangster was finally revealed following the acquittal of the police officer who shot him dead.
Kim Johnson said the ‘media are using racist gang tropes to justify the killing of Chris Kaba’ – while other members of the party were urged to apologise after issuing statements supporting the criminal gang member.
She sent her condolences to the 24-year-old’s family and friends yesterday after he was shot dead in Streatham, South London, on September 5, 2022.
Sergeant Martyn Blake, who was found not guilty of murder on Monday, shot him through the windscreen of an Audi Q8 as he tried to ram his way past police cars.
And Liverpool Riverside MP Ms Johnson told the House of Commons: ‘I would like to send my condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of Chris Kaba.
‘Particularly this week while the media are using racist gang tropes to justify the killing of Chris Kaba. Our black communities are over-policed and under-supported.’
But Kieran Mullan, Conservative MP for Bexhill and Battle, tweeted: ‘As I said in the chamber, it wasn’t a trope. He was a gang member. Equally disgraceful for the local MP to describe him as a ‘well loved’ member of the community.’
LBC presenter Nick Ferrari issued a furious response on his show, saying: ‘This was a man who chose to… in fact has been in crime since he was 13.. and who chose to… we all saw, or if you wanted to watch the TV you could see the video footage, of him shooting presumably a rival in a nightclub. What the hell has the media got to do…
Banging the desk, he added: ‘Why do we continue to hide behind this? Why don’t we just say, as I said yesterday, while he did not deserve to die in that fashion, he was no angel.’
It comes after reporting restrictions about Mr Kaba’s violent past were dramatically lifted at the Old Bailey on Tuesday after firearms officer Sergent Blake was cleared.
In the days that followed Mr Kaba’s death – and before his criminal past had been reported – several prominent Labour politicians including Jeremy Corbyn, Sadiq Khan and Diane Abbott called for ‘justice’ amid huge protests in London.
Now the rapper’s extraordinary history of violence has been revealed – including his involvement in shooting at a nightclub in Hackney, East London, just six days before his death – the politicians have been urged to apologise for their comments.
Lord Stevens, the former Met Police commissioner, said some politicians were too quick to slam the force and compare Mr Kaba’s death to that of George Floyd.
The murder of the unarmed black man by a white police officer in Minneapolis in 2020 prompted Black Lives Matter protests around the world, including in the UK.
Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick also criticised some politicians for ‘jumping’ on the shooting ‘to justify their pre-existing prejudices’ – and accused London Mayor Mr Khan of showing poor judgement by ‘mourning’ Mr Kaba’s death.
Sergeant Blake’s barrister had argued ‘bad character’ evidence should be put before the jury. But the judge said it wasn’t relevant because the officer didn’t know Mr Kaba was behind the wheel, only that the car was linked to a shooting the night before.
Lord Stevens told the Telegraph: ‘People need to stop and think. I believe the liberal Left should apologise, now it has come out that his background included him having been involved in a shooting and chasing a man outside a night just days before his death.
Jeremy Corbyn: ‘No family should have to go through the pain Chris Kaba’s family have suffered following his killing last week. My thoughts are with them as they fight for justice and accountability for his death.’
Diane Abbott: ‘As the terrible fate of Chris Kaba shows, people can lose their lives even when going about their daily lives. Defending all our fundamental human rights is crucial under this dangerous, repressive government.’
Sadiq Khan: ‘My heartfelt sympathies remain with Chris Kaba’s family, friends and loved ones, who are having to come to terms with a young life cut short. I fully understand the grave concerns and impact of Chris’ death on black Londoners across our city and the anger, pain and fear it has caused – as well as the desire for justice and change. I appreciate that there are many unanswered questions and I want to reassure all of London’s communities that I will continue to push for these to be answered.’
‘Let’s have an acceptance of what he was and what he did. You can see why he acted the way he did in that car; he wanted to get away from the police and was desperate to do so. I think those who vaunted him should apologise.’
After Mr Kaba’s death, former Labour leader Mr Corbyn tweeted: ‘No family should have to go through the pain Chris Kaba’s family have suffered following his killing last week. My thoughts are with them as they fight for justice and accountability for his death.’
Five days later, Mr Corbyn added: ‘We cannot live the pain felt by his family, but we can support them in demanding #JusticeForChrisKaba.’
Diane Abbott, Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington was also quick to point the finger of blame after Mr Kaba’s death, writing in the Morning Star: ‘As the terrible fate of Chris Kaba shows, people can lose their lives even when going about their daily lives. Defending all our fundamental human rights is crucial under this dangerous, repressive government.’
She added: ‘The mainstream media have an unfortunate habit of erasing inconvenient truths when they have decided what ”the story” is, and it is amazing how often it happens to black people.’
In addition, Ms Abbott wrote: ‘The family, friends and supporters of justice for Chris Kaba will want detailed and serious answers on these and many other questions.
‘But the history of treatment of cases such as these provides no grounds for encouragement. As Stormzy told our rally, people will need great stamina in the fight for justice.’
And Mr Khan said following the launch of a homicide investigation in the days after Mr Kaba’s death: ‘My heartfelt sympathies remain with Chris Kaba’s family, friends and loved ones, who are having to come to terms with a young life cut short.
‘I fully understand the grave concerns and impact of Chris’ death on black Londoners across our city and the anger, pain and fear it has caused – as well as the desire for justice and change.
‘I appreciate that there are many unanswered questions and I want to reassure all of London’s communities that I will continue to push for these to be answered.’
After the not guilty verdict on Monday, Mr Khan then issued a statement saying he respected the jury’s decision, but added: ‘I understand the impact Chris Kaba’s death has had on London’s communities and the anger, pain and fear it has caused. I send my heartfelt sympathies to Chris Kaba’s family, friends and the wider community once again.’
But Mr Jenrick said Mr Khan showed poor judgement over Mr Kaba’s death. He told TalkTV: ‘Sadiq Khan has mourned the death of Chris Kaba. I don’t mourn his death.
‘This is a man who has gone on a one man crime spree, shooting… and committing crimes across London. London is a safer place without him, and Sadiq Khan’s judgement once again has been called into question.
‘I want the police to enforce our laws without fear or favour, without focusing on community relations. There’s one community in London – that is Londoners. We should be protecting all people and no one should have protected status or the police shouldn’t be worried about how they behave.’
However an ally of Mr Khan – Unmesh Desai, a Labour member of the London Assembly – hit back, describing Mr Jenrick’s remarks as ‘outrageous’ and a ‘tasteless.
He added that it was ‘disappointing to see the death of anyone being used as a political football when families are grieving the loss of a loved one, regardless of circumstance’.
A source close to Mr Khan also told The Standard that his statement on Monday commended ‘firearms officers who work under the most extraordinary pressure, carrying with them unique responsibilities and often putting themselves in harm’s way to protect others’.
In December 2022, the University of Greenwich said in a statement: ‘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 baby with his fiancée. Two years ago, following the murder of George Floyd, our university committed to do more to eliminate institutional racism.
‘It is essential that we all continue to be honest and humble about the challenges we face about the work that needs to be done and unapologetic in fighting for equity and social justice.’
But the statement now appears to have been deleted from the university’s website.
It comes as Scotland Yard hailed policing reforms announced by the Government as progress towards a ‘fairer and faster’ system after the Home Secretary said accused firearms officers will remain anonymous unless they are convicted.
Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the changes represented a ‘welcome step forward’ after Yvette Cooper unveiled a string of measures in the wake of the Chris Kaba case.
‘These measures represent positive progress toward a system that is both fairer and faster, supporting the vast majority of officers who serve with integrity every day,’ he said.
‘The importance of these changes couldn’t have been demonstrated more clearly than by the acquittal of our firearms officer Sergeant Martyn Blake.
‘Accountability of the law is critical, but the current system is protracted and unbalanced and fails to secure the confidence of the public and officers.
‘Over many years this has created a culture where our officers are increasingly more worried about a skewed, imbalanced system than they are the dangerous criminals they face on the streets. If this continues, this risks making the public less safe.’
Earlier, Ms Cooper told MPs a review of how police who take fatal shots in the line of duty are held to account found the system was ‘not commanding the confidence of either the public or the police’ amid wider concerns about disciplinary proceedings.
The move comes days after marksman Mr Blake was cleared of Chris Kaba’s murder.
The 24-year-old was unarmed when Mr Blake shot him through the windscreen of an Audi Q8 as he tried to ram his way past police cars in Lambeth, south London, in 2022.
When reporting restrictions were lifted after the case concluded, it emerged Kaba was a ‘core member’ of one of London’s most dangerous criminal gangs and was allegedly directly linked to two shootings in the six days before he was shot dead by police.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is reviewing whether Mr Blake should still face disciplinary proceedings.
The 40-year-old is reportedly living in hiding, fearing for his life and his family after a £10,000 bounty was offered in revenge for Kaba’s death to anyone prepared to kill him.
Ms Cooper said the case happened ‘against a backdrop of wider and long-standing concerns about accountability, standards and confidence’ and amid ‘fallen community confidence in policing and the criminal justice system across the country’, particularly among black communities.
Speaking in the Commons on Wednesday, Ms Cooper said: ‘The accountability review found that the current system for holding police officers to account is not commanding the confidence of either the public or the police.
‘Accountability and misconduct proceedings are too often plagued by delays stretching for years, which are damaging for complainants, officers and forces alike, and the system has become much more complex, with confusion over multiple thresholds for different investigations, a lack of clarity, especially involving specialist capabilities.
‘There are also wider concerns about the misconduct system, because the focus when things go wrong can end up being entirely on the decisions of the individual officer.
‘So systems failings like poor training, unmanageable caseloads or wider false practices are not sufficiently considered or followed up so too little changes.’
As well as introducing a ‘presumption of anonymity for firearms officers subject to criminal trial following a police shooting in the course of their professional duties, up to the point of conviction’, Ms Cooper vowed to raise the threshold for officers facing court so it matches the measure the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) uses for making charging decisions about members of the public.
This would mean charges would be brought only when there is a reasonable prospect of conviction, instead of if there is an indication of criminality using limited evidence.
‘Currently, that threshold is lower for police officers, and that is not justified,’ she said.
Bereaved families will also be given the right to appeal when the IOPC decides not to seek a charge against an officer.
The review began under the previous Conservative government when then home secretary Suella Braverman pledged to review the ways that firearms officers who take fatal shots are held accountable, with the work continuing after Labour won the general election.
Sir Mark is among those who previously branded the current accountability system as ‘broken’ and raised concerns it might lead to a loss of morale among firearms officers, at a time when there are significant gaps in staffing across the country.
Prosecutors and the police watchdog defended the decision to take Mr Blake to court after the verdict, with the CPS saying it was ‘right that the case was put before the jury for them to scrutinise and to decide.’
The Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson has since been asked to review the CPS guidance on charging police officers for offences committed while they are on duty, Ms Cooper said.
Mr Parkinson welcomed the request as he confirmed the work would be carried out, adding: ‘Criminal prosecutions brought against police officers for actions taken in the course of their duties are extremely rare and these decisions are only made after careful consideration of all the relevant evidence and circumstances.
‘It is crucial that police officers are able to use their powers with legal certainty and clarity, always balanced with the public’s need to see the highest levels of scrutiny and accountability.’
Meanwhile, the College of Policing has been tasked with working lessons learned from ‘deaths or serious injuries arising from police contact or police pursuits’ into officer training.
The body’s boss, Chief Constable Sir Andy Marsh, said: ‘No one, including officers who carry firearms, can be above the law and it is right for communities to expect a high level of accountability.
‘However, as recognised by the Home Secretary today, any system of accountability must also give officers the confidence to act in accordance with their training and to not be penalised as a result.’
Shadow home secretary James Cleverly said he ‘agreed with almost all’ of the proposals put forward by the Government but argued firearms officers should be able to use their training as part of their defence in criminal proceedings.
Ms Abbott told the Commons ‘nothing could be more damaging for police community relations, than if the idea took hold that in some way the police were above the law’ as she questioned Ms Cooper about the measures.
Conservative MP Sir Julian Lewis said it was ‘concerning’ to hear the Met had closed a probe into the ‘hit’ taken out against Mr Blake but the Home Secretary said she was unable to comment.
Ms Cooper would not be drawn on if she had faith in the IOPC and the CPS, instead pointing to the review.