UK Daily Trending stories
Media Coverage
The story leads many of the UK national newspapers this morning and remains at the top of the news cycle online.
On social media, the story continues to trend as users react to the verdict.
Trending – Met cop who shot Chris Kaba is acquitted of murder
Metropolitan Police officer Martyn Blake, 40, fatally shot Chris Kaba during a vehicle stop in Streatham, in September 2022. Now, after a two-year probe and a three-week trial, an Old Bailey jury found the cop not guilty of murder and his suspension from the Met was immediately lifted.
It is a story that has unsurprisingly divided the national newspapers and the discussion on social media.
Key facts
- Martyn Blake was part of Met’s MO19 specialist firearm command
- Chris Kaba – who was unarmed – had been followed and stopped by police because the car he was driving had been linked to a previous shooting in Brixton
- He was boxed in by police cars, and he attempted to ram through
- He was shot in the head by Blake who said during the trial he feared his one of his colleagues would be killed
The reaction
Most of the papers lead with the story and depending on the publication you’ll get a varying degree of sympathy. Many of the right-leaning news publications say Blake should never have been arrested in the first place and have called for an overhaul of the system saying such cases stops them from doing their jobs properly.
Other papers celebrate Blake’s acquittal with several tabloids noting that after a two-year probe and a three-week trial, Blake was aquitted after just three hours.
Several of the left-leaning newspapers speak to the family of Chris Kaba who expresses their disappointment in the verdict.
Trending on social media
What are users saying on Twitter/X?
Read the Tweets!
Sgt Martyn Blake, I'm sorry you had to go through this trial, this ordeal,& I'm sorry you had to shoot Chris Kaba.
— Meeeeee (@DonnaDlm71) October 21, 2024
But thank you for everything you did that night, thank you for trying to keep us all a bit safer.
Appreciated by me.
Wait for the backlash!!!
— 'Seeing is believing' (@dave24144975) October 21, 2024
Angelic Chris🙄
A Metropolitan Police marksman has been acquitted of murdering unarmed driver Chris Kaba in a police shooting.
Jurors took almost three hours to find Martyn Blake, 40, not guilty of murder following a three-week trial at London’s Old… pic.twitter.com/7sDI7UTGCA
I’ve asked before…I’ll ask again, where is Chris Kaba’s Rolex watch that went missing on the night Martyn Blake shot and killed him? pic.twitter.com/XNtZ7egH14
— Michael Morgan (@mikecmorgan) October 21, 2024
The officer who shot Chris Kaba was standing in front of the vehicle (that clearly wasn’t going anywhere) and instead of the firearm officers shooting the tyres, Martyn Blake shoots the suspect in the head. The suspect didn’t have a gun. Meaning an unlawful killing and murder. https://t.co/sRpW6cfplf
— D. (@DaksOnline) October 21, 2024