British Man Admits Plotting to Murder Street Evangelist Hatun Tash
A 21-year-old British man, Edward Little, has pleaded guilty to preparing to commit acts of terrorism in an attack against the evangelist Hatun Tash in 2022. Little was found carrying £5,000, with which he planned to buy a firearm to kill Hatun Tash at the Speaker's Corner, a place for public debates where she frequently debates and preaches. He refused the allegations at first, but on the May 19, 2023 he admitted to planning the murder back on September 23, 2022.
The evangelist Hatun Tash, who is a female convert from Islam to Christianity, engaged frequently in debates at London’s Speakers' Corner, a historic site for public speeches and debates since the mid-1800s. In July 2021, she was assaulted and harassed by a group of Islamic men for wearing a T-shirt featuring a picture of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, she was also stabbed two months later by a man in front of police while she was participating in a weekly debate.
Video footage shows that officers had asked the group to leave, but they refused and continued to intimidate Tash. The officers then instructed Tash to leave, and when she refused, she was arrested.
Tash has now received £10,000 in compensation and costs. In September 2022, the Inspector of the Metropolitan Police Directorate of Professional Standards Civil Actions Unit, Andy O'Donnell, sent Tash an apology letter for the service that fell below the department's "requisite standard."
Also, Edward Little, who had denied the allegations earlier this year, he admitted the charge and pleaded guilty by video link Friday from jail. Little was arrested in September 2022. At the moment of the arrest, he was carrying £5,000 with which he hoped to purchase a firearm to kill Hatun Tash, a passport and two phones. Hatun Tash, who is now director of the ministry Defend Christ Critique Islam (DCCI) and has 700,000 followers on Youtube, celebrated the news of Little’s arrest.
Littles phone was inspected and they saw that he used the screen name “Abdullah”, with which he discussed religion, Iraq and “kafir” (the name for "non-believers") online.
“l am glad that the police were able to act and stop Mr Little before he harmed me and people around me,” she commented.
Tash continued: "I should be able to practice my right to preach the Gospel and critique Islam, or anything else that I disagree with, especially at Speakers’ Corner, the home of free speech.”
Source: Christian Post, BBC, The Times, Daily Mail
Image: Courtesy of Christian Concern