Hey, guys. I was going to continue with the Uni Series podcast tonight, but in light of recent events that have been in the news there was something really important that I felt I should discuss with you. As you might know if you're based in the UK/have access to the UK news, the tragic story of a 15 year old boy being shot on his way to school hit the headlines and breaking news on Monday morning. This horrific news really hit me hard, as I'm sure it did for many others - I grew up on the same estate that the shooting took place, and a few years ago even attended the same school. From first hand experience I can honestly say that the entire town is in shock. It's such a small, community friendly little area, and more than anything, I've always felt safe here, as have many - something like this would shock me even if it occurred in a big city, but to have it happen round the corner is insane. All my love and thoughts are with the boy and his family right now - nobody really knows much about his condition or about the shooter's arrest, aside from what has already been reported in the news. (If you haven't heard about it, Google "Kesgrave shooting". And if possible, try to avoid the articles from the Scum - shit, sorry, The "Sun". It's a tragic event that completely dominated the headlines all of Monday - it was surreal to see. And unfortunately, whenever there's a big tragedy like this, there are also a bunch of arseholes just waiting to throw the Islamophobia and racism cards and wave the EDL banner like a champ - such as the creatures I unfortunately encountered on my Twitter on Monday afternoon. This angered me deeply for two reasons - a) the focus should have been entirely on this poor boy and his condition, not on blaming POCs and religious people on NO GROUNDS WHATSOEVER. B) It was the absolute audacity that all this horrible stuff was being said in the wake of such a terrible event. C) The fact that whenever there's a report of a big criminal attack, the EDL are out and about instantly blaming everyone who isn't them in the wake of so-called patriotism. D) These assholes don't even do their research. They don't care about the victims or how to stop the crime - they care about blaming it on religion and ethnicity. Just fuck off. I'm absolutely not here for it. One racist Twitter turd actually had the audacity to @ me on Twitter trying to prove his point - when he couldn't even spell! The sad thing is, this was far from the only person tweeting stuff like this on Monday. Unfortunately, this isn't a unique situation. It's just another day for the EDL, and the focus isn't on the boy at the centre of this. The focus is never on how to help the victim, just about who to place the blame on. I'm so sick of it. Again, and most importantly, all my love and prayers are going to the boy who was hurt on Monday, and his family. Everybody is rooting for you, keep fighting β€ I hope this episode brings clarity about how problematic discriminatory reactions to crime actually are, and why the focus needs to be on the justice system and supporting the many victims of these crimes.