McMahon blasts social media ‘idiots’ in wake of soldier’s murder

Cllr Jim McMahon: heart-felt plea

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OLDHAM Council leader Jim McMahon has hit out at the “spineless idiots” who tried to incite “viral violence” on social networking sites in the aftermath of Middleton soldier Lee Rigby’s murder.

Councillor McMahon has condemned those who spread “total lies” that Oldham Muslims were celebrating in the streets following the 25-year-old’s death in Woolwich last Wednesday.

False reports were also spread on Twitter and Facebook of a riot by members of the English Defence League and a pregnant woman arrested in the town centre for carrying a Union Jack flag — all claims the police quickly refuted.

Councillor McMahon said: “What concerns me more than when any tiny minority uses religion, faith, culture, events and a sense of unfairness or injustice as a reason for hate, is when normal everyday people stand on the sidelines and say nothing — or even worse, join in without considering the serious implications of what they are doing.

“I saw this first-hand on social media at the end of last week when some people were spreading total lies about there being a riot in Oldham and claiming that Muslims here had taken to the streets to celebrate the killing of drummer Lee Rigby. None of this was true.

“It was bad enough that some spineless individuals were using the cover that social media offers to lie and incite others, but what made it worse was how many people allowed themselves to be duped into believing it and seemingly without thinking about the potential consequences, simply pressed ‘retweet’.

“We have to accept that in a fair and free society some people will at times abuse that freedom.”

He added: “If we live here we all have a responsibility to stand up for what is right for the wider community, not just our own little part of it.

“Simplistic talk of ‘them and us’ won’t help — nor will trying to justify one extremist action because of another.

“Extremists in any guise rely on the majority being indifferent or even passively sympathetic for them to be able to grow the seeds of hate.”


Fazal Rahim of the Oldham Interfaith Forum backed the council leader’s comments.
He believes the majority of Oldhamers have stood together following the horrifying killing and its aftermath.

He said: “This is a crime that has shaken communities, towns and cities. For the first time, Oldham Mosque Council is holding a collection for Help for Heroes — this is how strongly local Muslims feel about what happened and we want to do everything we can to show our support.

“Oldham has united in the aftermath of this tragedy because it is very close to home. If these extremists demonstrate here, it spreads fear that doesn’t do anything for our town or its reputation.

“We can’t let these groups take our town hostage. They come from other towns to demonstrate and it has a huge impact here. As brilliant as social media is, it can blow things out of proportion.”