Claim: Woman Preacher in Charlie Hebdo Shirt Stabbed at London’s Speakers’ Corner

Hatun Tash
Screenshot (SOCO films via YouTube)
Kurt Zindulka

A female Christian preacher who was wearing a Charlie Hebdo shirt was allegedly stabbed in London’s Speakers’ Corner on Saturday afternoon.

The woman, who is claimed to be a Christian preacher and prominent critic of Islam, Hatum Tash, was filmed being stabbed repeatedly by a hooded man.

The evangelical preacher is a member of Defend Christ, Critique Islam (DCCI) Ministries which “seeks to preach the Gospel to Muslims using apologetics and polemics.”

According to their website, DCCI states that their “motivation is a love for Muslims to bring them to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ in order to attain eternal life.”

For her strident critiques of Islam, including showing textual differences between different Qurans, Tash has become a controversial figure, with some Muslim activists even calling for her to be banned from Speakers’ Corner.

Last year, London’s police removed her from the area, despite its identity as the home of free speech, after her Charlie Hebdo shirt provoked a mob of Muslim men.

Footage shared on social media on Sunday showed a hooded man running up to a woman who appears to be Tash, stabbing her several times, resulting in blood pouring from her face.

In a statement provided to Breitbart London, the Metropolitan Police Service said: “Police were called by the London Ambulance Service at 15:34hrs on Sunday, 25 July to reports of an assault at Speakers’ Corner, W1.”

“Officers attended and found a woman suffering from a minor slash injury. She was treated by the [London Ambulance Service] before being taken to a central London hospital. A knife was recovered nearby.

“Officers from Westminster are working alongside the Royal Parks OCU to investigate and identify the man responsible. There have been no arrests and enquiries continue.”

While the police have yet to identify the motive and suspect in the case, many on social media have pointed to Tash’s frequent clashes with Muslim activists as a possible factor in the attack.

Politics lecturer Adrian Hilton wrote: “Christian preacher Hatun Tash has been stabbed in Speaker’s Corner. She is a prominent critic of Islam. We must defend freedom of speech and expression in the UK, and not cede the public square to those who wish to censor us intimidate us.”

Shortly after the attack a bystander is heard shouting: “This is what Islam has brought to Britain, violence and destruction.”

During the time of the attack, the woman was wearing a T-shirt featuring a cartoon from the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. The magazine was, infamously, the victim of an Islamist terror attack in 2015, in which 12 people were murdered after the publication of a caricature of the Islamic prophet.

Violence surrounding the caricatures has continued, with a Chechen asylum seeker beheading French teacher Samuel Paty last year after the teacher had shown his class images from the magazine during a class on freedom of expression.

In March of this year, a teacher in England was suspended after showing the Charlie Hebdo cartoons to his class. The teacher was later forced into hiding after a local Muslim group outed his identity online, and he remains in hiding to this day.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.