Over 250 survivors of the Ariana Grande concert bombing in Manchester, England, have united to take legal action against Britain’s security service, MI5, over its failings in the lead-up to the attack.
The suicide bombing at Manchester Arena, which killed 22 and injured over 100, including many children and teenagers, was carried out by Salman Abedi, the son of a Libyan Islamist granted refugee status by the British government.
Official inquiries have found MI5 made several severe failures before Abedi — who was flagged to the domestic security service 18 times prior to the attack — carried out the bombing.
Local law enforcement has also faced criticism for its failures before the attack. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) was aware of Abedi communicating with a convicted extremist three years before the bombing, in which he insulted non-Muslims as “dogs” and “kuffars” and expressed his desire for “martyrdom.”
On the night of the attack, officers for the British Transport Police (BTP) were not present at Manchester Arena because they were indulging in an unauthorized, two-hour dinner break. Abedi was reported to on-site security guards because he was praying and acting erratically at the entrance to the arena while wearing a large rucksack, but they refused to intervene because they were “scared” they would be “branded racist.”
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