The FBI and US Justice Department are assisting UK police in investigating Southport killer Axel Rudakubana. The 18-year-old was sentenced to a minimum of 52 years in prison in January for the murder of three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in July of the previous year. Merseyside Police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) released a joint statement expressing the devastation caused by the Southport attack to the victims, their families, and the wider community. A CPS Prosecutor in the United States is collaborating with international partners to gather relevant material, with gratitude extended to the US Department of Justice and the FBI for their ongoing support.
Investigators are hopeful of recovering deleted searches from Rudakubana’s Google and Microsoft accounts in the coming weeks. Rudakubana pleaded guilty to the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, Bebe King, and Elsie Dot Stancombe. Additionally, he confessed to attempting to murder eight other children, instructor Leanne Lucas, and businessman John Hayes, as well as facing charges related to ricin production and possession of terrorism-related information. The judge, Mr. Justice Goose, stated that Rudakubana will not be considered for parole until he is 70 years old, and it is highly unlikely that he will ever be released.
Following the false claims online that Rudakubana, born in Cardiff to Christian parents from Rwanda, was a newly arrived asylum seeker, the UK riots erupted last summer. The government has initiated an inquiry into the failure of the state to identify the threat posed by the killer, and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has indicated a willingness to revise the definition of terrorism if required.
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