Five men have been arrested on suspicion of the attempted murder of prominent UK Black Lives Matter activist Sasha Johnson, who is fighting for her life after being shot in the head over the weekend in south London, the Metropolitan Police said on Wednesday
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th May, 2021) Five men have been arrested on suspicion of the attempted murder of prominent UK Black Lives Matter activist Sasha Johnson, who is fighting for her life after being shot in the head over the weekend in south London, the Metropolitan Police said on Wednesday.
According to the statement, police officers stopped a 17-year-old on Tuesday evening and following a search, he was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and class A drugs with intent to supply.
The investigation led to an address in Peckham, the same neighborhood where Sasha was shot, and arrested a further three men aged 18, 19 and 28, while the fifth suspect, aged 25, following a police pursuit of a car in the area.
"While the investigation remains in its early stages, these arrests show that progress is being made. However, I would continue to appeal to those who may hold information about the events that led to Sasha receiving her horrific injuries, or about those responsible, to do the right thing and come forward and speak to police," Detective Chief Inspector Richard Leonard was quoted as saying.
Sasha, who is also one of the founders of the Taking the Initiative Party (TTIP), a political organization that contested in the local elections held recently across the United Kingdom, was taken to a south London hospital in the early hours of Sunday and is currently in critical condition after undergoing surgery.
The Metropolitan Police has confirmed that the activist, a leading figure in the protests that took place in London and other UK cities as part of the global Black Lives Matter movement, was attending a party at a house in Peckham when a group of black males dressed in dark colored clothing entered the garden and discharged a firearm.
The TTIP claimed that the Sasha had received death threats as a result of her antiracism activism but the police said that so far, there is nothing to suggest that she was the subject of a targeted attack.
