London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Jul 22, 2025

A woman was stabbed in Hyde Park. Media and authorities are acting as if she had it coming for wearing a Charlie Hebdo shirt

A woman was stabbed in Hyde Park. Media and authorities are acting as if she had it coming for wearing a Charlie Hebdo shirt

After a woman was brutally attacked at Hyde Park’s Speaker’s Corner, reports about the incident focused on what she wore, begging the question whether free speech is no longer sacred to people who run London and the UK.

A graphic video making rounds on social media shows a man, reportedly dressed in a black robe with a hood, punching and stabbing a woman on Sunday afternoon, then being chased away by police. He somehow evaded the authorities and disappeared, leaving the knife behind.


Reports about the incident spoke of a 39-year-old woman, who suffered “a minor slash injury to her head” that was described as not life-threatening after treatment at a local hospital. The papers revealed no identifying information about the attacker and dutifully quoted the Metropolitan Police urging Londoners to come forth with evidence.

“I would ask people not to speculate on the motive for the attack until we have established the full facts,” the police spokesperson concluded.

That did not stop the media from pointing out that the woman wore a “Charlie Hebdo top,” and reminding the public that the satirical French magazine was targeted by “Islamic extremists” in January 2015 over its cover depicting the Prophet Muhammad. The implication is clear: the woman wore a provocative shirt that offended Muslims somehow, and therefore had the stabbing coming.

The story only gets more troubling when some of the missing details are filled in. Even a cursory glance at the video and stills from the incident shows the woman wearing a top printed with a Charlie Hebdo cover – but not the one depicting the Muslim prophet. Instead, it showed a homosexual kiss between a CH cartoonist and a Muslim preacher, captioned “Love stronger than hate.”

While the authorities did not name the victim, bloggers and activists identified her as Hatun Tash, 39, who fled Turkey after renouncing Islam for Christianity. She now preaches in Hyde Park on behalf of Defend Christ Critique Islam Ministries.


In countries practicing Sharia Law – such as Saudi Arabia – apostasy from Islam is a crime punishable by death. Turkey is nominally secular still. So is the UK. Which is why the British authorities ought to be alarmed by this attack, but they don’t seem to be.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who once infamously said terrorist attacks were “part and parcel of living in a big city,” did not even acknowledge the incident. Instead, he demanded that police investigate a speech by an “anti-vaxxer” former nurse.


According to one blogger, Tash has been a fixture at Speakers Corner, facing “intimidation, threats, sexual assaults and physical assaults” in recent years. In October 2020, she was apparently assaulted and knocked unconscious. On another occasion, the blogger said she was detained by police and held for 20 hours without an explanation.

Focusing on Tash’s choice of clothing comes perniciously close to blaming her for “provoking” the attack somehow. Her top, or her words for that matter, may have been offensive to some Muslims, but they were not in violation of the law.

One would expect the British public to show some solidarity with a woman attacked by a knife-wielding man, in broad daylight, for speaking at a place dedicated to free speech. There have been no calls for curfew on men this time, however.

Worse yet, violence is increasingly becoming the norm at Speakers Corner. It has reportedly seen multiple clashes in recent months, between Shia and Sunni Muslims. Indeed, in one of the videos that captured the attack on Tash, the speakers in the foreground can be heard discussing Islamic theology.

There is nothing wrong with that as such, so long as everyone understands that the laws, customs and traditions of Speakers Corner, London and the UK take precedence over those they brought with them from abroad. Otherwise what’s next, practicing suttee in Kensington Gardens in the name of diversity and inclusion?

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×