London police say British Black Lives Matter activist Sasha Johnson was shot by a group of four black men at a party but the attack was not targeted.
The 27-year-old mother of three has been in critical condition since the assailants shot her in the head at a house party in south London on Sunday.
“Around 3 a.m. local time on Sunday morning, a group of four black males dressed in dark colored clothing entered the garden of the property and discharged a firearm,” London’s Metropolitan police Commander Alison Heydari said Tuesday.
Heydari said the attack did not appear to be targeted because police couldn’t confirm whether any firm threats were made against Johnson beforehand.
“We are aware of Sasha’s involvement in the Black Lives Matter movement in the UK and I understand the concern this will cause to some communities — however I wish to stress that at this time there is nothing to suggest Sasha was the victim of a targeted attack,” she said.
Police’s account of the incident drew fire from Johnson’s political party, the Taking the Initiative Party (TTIP).
“The irony is in the fact that the police have stated that there is no clear evidence that Sasha was the target of the attack, and that there are no credible death threats made towards her; however, how have the police come to this conclusion without being able to speak with Sasha regarding the death threats and investigate?” Said the party in an statement.
“Do the police know who the target of the attack was, in order to conclude that Sasha wasn’t?” added the party, which first said on Sunday that the attack on Johnson happened “following numerous death threats as a result of her activism.”
“We have been receiving emails and social media messages celebrating Sasha’s attack, messages wishing she dies, calling her a racist, and wishing better luck to the shooter next time for not killing her and so on,” TTIP said Monday.
“We need to highlight the issue here in the narrative and the corruption of the system, whereby an individual gets shot in the head yet continues to receive abuse and even gets blamed for being the victim of targeted hate crime,” it added.
