Lee Rigby’s murder: The terror attack that launched a far-right movement
7/6/202649 min
On 22 May 2013, Fusilier Lee Rigby was murdered in broad daylight on a London street. His killers didn't flee, they waited, bloodied weapons in hand, and spoke to camera. It remains one of the most shocking terrorist attacks on British soil.
Neil was a Met police commander in southeast London that day. He reveals what happened inside the Met's leadership team in the minutes after the attack, why it took 15 minutes for armed officers to arrive, and what the footage of those officers' response tells us about the reality of policing.
Together, Andy and Neil examine the uncomfortable questions this case still raises: How were both attackers already known to MI5? Why was hate preacher Anjem Choudary allowed to radicalise young men for decades before being stopped? Should the media have broadcast a terrorist's self-made martyrdom video? And how did the murder of one soldier become the launchpad for a national far-right movement?
Andy was in the newsroom when the infamous footage first surfaced, and at the EDL rally in Newcastle three days later when Tommy Robinson exploited Lee Rigby's death to galvanise thousands. This is the story of how one act of terror fractured British society in ways we're still living with today.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsNeil Basu· Host0:00
[upbeat music] This is a global production.
Andy Hughes· Host0:04
The fact that they killed a serving soldier just completely shocked the nation, and it was one of those moments where the whole country seemed to stop and just watch the footage of what was going on.
Neil Basu· Host0:19
I was on the phone to him when he pulled up on scene. And all... I, I won't describe what he said, but the, the scene, you could tell from his voice that he was utterly shocked.
Andy Hughes· Host0:30
This extremist ideology really framed the military as this was a war against Muslims. You could see the attacker, blood-stained hand, talking, um, to the camera. Uh, what was that like as a police officer seeing that?
Neil Basu· Host0:48
[gentle music] The Crime Agents.
Andy Hughes· Host0:51
Welcome to this episode of The Crime Agents with me, crime journalist Andy Hughes.
Neil Basu· Host0:55
And me, the ex-cop Neil Basu.
Andy Hughes· Host0:57
Let's start by taking you back to May 22nd, 2013, in southeast London. It's a bright, sunny day, and Fusilier Lee Rigby, a soldier in the British Army, is walking back to his barracks in Woolwich, wearing a Help for Heroes hoodie, when a speeding car drives into him. It looked deliberate, and it was. While Lee lay there on the ground in agony, two men jumped out of the car and started brutally attacking him with a knife and a cleaver, killing