His name
Thomas Mair has appeared in court.
The venue chosen for Thomas Mair’s first court appearance was the most important magistrate’s court in London. Deputy Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot was presiding.
Reporters from the broadcasters and Sunday newspapers and from overseas packed the press seats at the back.
As is almost always the case, the hearing was brief, but it had a key moment of drama – the moment the man in the dock was asked his name.
He stood, as asked, for what is normally one of the most mundane parts of the proceedings. Not this time.
“My name is death to traitors, freedom for Britain,” he said.
Asked to repeat it, he said the same thing. Then he fell silent until he was taken from the dock and driven off to prison.
So that’s a guilty plea then.
(No, officially it’s not, of course, but it certainly is a declaration. And a hideous one at that – “traitor” – godalmighty.)
It’s strange how right wing extremist and total goddamn loony are frequently synonyms.
Traitor. My my.
Son, it’s a democracy. You just murdered the woman your fellow constituents selected as their representative. Many of whom, I think you’ll find, considered the advocacy _you_ apparently found problematic quite appropriate. If not actually heroic.
They’re funny things, democracies. There’s this crazy notion behind them that, really, the people _are_ their own authority. So, long as you follow certain I’d have _thought_ hardly onerous guidelines–like use your words, not your weapons–you can advocate rather a _lot_ and still be far from a traitor. It’s not like certain banana republics and worse where a traitor is whomever the strongman dislikes. So, while I happen to think Ms. Cox had the right of this thing (by a long mile), even had she been advocating something I’d consider kinda wrong or even kinda stupid, it would be difficult for her to _get_ to traitor, were she a duly elected representative, peaceably urging whichever political direction, as, is, y’know, her job. And as is the civic duty of the rest of us.
No, son. In democracies, traitors generally have sold state secrets, that kinda thing. Calling people ‘traitor’ for differing with you kinda says to me you’re not getting this. Like a lot of your ilk, got some ideas about where authority comes from and what your state is that are a bit… off, really. But yeah, I guess, you’re not alone on this, anyway. Seems to be going around.
Now, funny thing, your cowardly, sorry, shitty action a few days ago, I figure, _that’s_ pretty damned harmful to the state, actually. Still, probably, you’re not gonna get called a traitor for that, much, either, go figure, notwithstanding you _did_ just murder a member of the government…
But listen: I figure it’s a whole hell of a lot closer.
The lot of these wannabe blackshirts, what, did they all just tune out in civics? Or were they already out and breaking things, by the time it came up in grade whatever? Hope the have a remedial thing, anyway, wherever they lock him up, I guess. But for the rest of them, maybe we should start explaining now? Traitor. No, it’s _not_ someone whose view of the policy direction we should pursue differs from your own, Billy. Would you like to try again?
I bet he wishes Britain has the death penalty. Then he could die for his cause and become a martyr.
You’re absolutely right, though. The way these guys – christian, muslim, whatever – see the world is at 90 degrees from the way the rest of us see it. That’s my justification for “total goddamn loony” which refers only to the way they interpret the world, and wasn’t meant to imply a lack of personal agency and responsibility – something I realised afterwards I’d implied by that. These guys are guilty, not formally insane.
I see no reason for him to not be called a ‘traitor’. He was attempting to usurp the rightful and lawful government, by force. That’s treason.