The Manchester synagogue terror attack that left two dead and three injured has reignited debate over Britain’s lax bail policies after police confirmed the terrorist, Jihad al-Shamie, had been released while under investigation for rape.
According to The Guardian, al-Shamie—a Syrian-born British citizen—had also accumulated multiple criminal convictions before launching his car-ramming and stabbing assault outside a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year. The New York Times reported that authorities at Greater Manchester Police were “investigating al-Shamie for rape” and that “he was out on bail at the time of the attack.”
The 35-year-old was shot dead by police after killing two and injuring three others. The attack was declared a terrorist incident, and three additional suspects were later arrested. Investigators are still reviewing al-Shamie’s background, which includes disturbing ties to anti-Israel extremism.
The Telegraph reported that al-Shamie’s father had previously praised Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel as a “miracle,” adding, “men like these prove they are Allah’s men on earth.” Authorities are also probing whether al-Shamie was the same “Jihad Alshamie” who, in 2012, sent threats to a Conservative member of Parliament over support for Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
The terror attack has sparked outrage across the U.K., as critics question how a man with a violent record and open extremist sympathies remained free.
