The annual commemoration of the bomb planted by a right-wing extremist that exploded in Brixton’s Electric Avenue in 1999 took place earlier today (17 April) with local residents joining organiser Mark Healey to light and hold candles in three lanterns.
They mark the three bombs placed in Brixton, Brick Lane in East London and the Admiral Duncan pub in Soho by David Copeland, a racist and homophobe who hoped by his actions would ignite a race war, and also the three people killed by the Soho bomb.
Each year, the organisation 17-24-30 marks the anniversaries of the bombings at the sites qhere they nhappened.
Mark launched 17-24-30 in March 2009 to mark the 10th anniversary of the attacks. The candle vigils have also evolved in to Hate Crime Awareness Week. The numbers record the April 1999 dates when the three bombs were planted.
People at the ceremony this year included local residents Ian Tollett, Jessica Matthew and Roger Baker, who have memories of the Saturday when the Brixton bomb exploded outside Iceland. Also present was Lambeth Metropolitan Police LGBT engagement officer Jospeh Seddon.
This evening, as then, Electric Avenue was crowded with shoppers and stalls – today because market hours were extended before the Easter Bank Holiday.
Passers-by witnessed the brief candle-lighting ceremony and heard Trudy Howson read two of her poems about the bombings and their aftermath.
It would be far better if some of the people who were the targets of the bomber or actually injured by his wickedness were actually present.
It is not as if he made any secret of the identity his intended targets in Brixton.