The mundane radicalism of terrorists on both sides
Islamist extremists and far-right thugs have much in common — chiefly their miserable, angry lives
The UK tabloids hesitated about what to call the white driver of a van who crashed into a crowd of worshippers at the Finsbury Park mosque in London on Monday. But Harry Potter author JK Rowling tweeted furiously that he was no less a terrorist than the perpetrators of recent Islamic State-inspired attacks. "Let’s talk about how the Finsbury Park terrorist was radicalised," she wrote, and posted a picture of nationalist politician Nigel Farage standing in front of an anti-refugee billboard. How Darren Osborne, the van driver, was radicalised is a fair question, if indeed he can be called a radical. Osborne’s profile is similar to that of Khalid Masood, the convert to Islam who perpetrated the March 22 attack that started on Westminster Bridge in London. Osborne, a father of four, is 48. Masood, 52, had three kids. Masood had a long history of violence and went to jail for one of the brawls in which he used a knife. Osborne is described as "shouty" and volatile, though seems to have ...
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