The family of Jack Merritt, one of the victims of the London Bridge terror attack, has condemned political parties and right-wing papers for exploiting Merritt’s death to advance their own agenda.
‘Don’t use my son’s death, and his and his colleague’s photos - to promote your vile propaganda,’ David Merritt, the victim’s father, tweeted last night sharing images of the front page of the Daily Mail and Daily Express. ‘Jack stood against everything you stand for - hatred, division, ignorance.’
The Daily Mail’s headline read ‘new blitz on freed jihadis’ while the Daily Express went with ‘Boris Blitz on freed jihadis begins’. The tweet Merritt shared referred to the media coverage as ‘nothing more than the propaganda wing for the Tory Party, happily serving up piles of steaming bullshit messaging straight from central command.’
Boris Johnson has come under fire amid claims that he has attempted to blame Labour for the release of the terrorist who killed two people last week.
‘It's beyond disgusting that Boris Johnson, Priti Patel, & newspapers like the Mail are using Jack Merritt's death and image to promote an agenda he fought against all his life,’ Ash Sarkar tweeted. ‘He was a passionate believer in rehabilitation and transformative justice, not draconian sentencing.’
Liking and retweeting Sarkar, the victim’s father has shared a number of tweets condemning right-wing papers and any political party using the London Bridge attacks to exploit their own campaign in the run-up to the general election. In a statement released by the family, they said:
'Most recently, Johnson has promised to change the law around prison release dates and argued that the terrorist was freed because of the "automatic early release scheme…that was brought in by Labour with the support of Jeremy Corbyn."
‘We know Jack would not want this terrible, isolated incident to be used as a pretext by the government for introducing even more draconian sentences on prisoners, or for detaining people in prison for longer than necessary.'
‘Jack lived his principles: he believed in redemption and rehabilitation – not revenge – and he always took the side of the underdog.'
Read More: