Don’t use Lee’s name to attack others: family

Call for calm: the family of murdered British soldier Lee Rigby; (L-R) his wife Rebecca Rigby, his sister Sara McClure and his stepfather and mother Ian and Lyn Rigby at the site where he died.

Evening Standard/London

The family of murdered soldier Lee Rigby have called for calm and urged people not to use his name to attack others.

They spoke out as one of his suspected killers Michael Adebolajo was discharged from hospital where he had been recovering after he was shot by police.

The 28-year-old had already been arrested on suspicion of Drummer Rigby’s murder, and today was further arrested on suspicion of the attempted murder of a police officer.

In a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence the family thanked the public for the “overwhelming support” they had received but urged people to show respect in “a peaceful manner”.

They said the 25-year-old’s death had had a devastating effect on them, but said they were amazed by the worldwide support they had received.

They spoke out as an inquest into the soldier’s death was opened and adjourned, during which it was revealed he had been working at the Tower of London on the day he died.

Their call came as Scotland Yard banned the British National Party from marching near the scene of Drummer Rigby’s killing in Woolwich amid fears of violent clashes with anti-fascist groups.

The Met refused the far right-wing party permission to hold a planned march tomorrow from Woolwich Barracks to the Lewisham Islamic Centre saying a rally must be held in Whitehall instead.

The statement from Drummer Rigby’s “wider family” including his wife and fiance said: “The loss of Lee has obviously had a devastating effect on us but in these sad times we would just like to say how grateful we are for the overwhelming support we have received from the general public, Army and the Police Service.

“The generosity, kindness and sympathy expressed by everyone we have come into contact with has been truly staggering and is giving us the strength to carry on. “

They had been “amazed by the messages of support we have received from all across the globe” and they were “deeply touched” after visiting the scene of the murder in Woolwich.

The statement said : “We all loved Lee deeply and we know that he loved us - we all miss him so much. He was a fun-loving, approachable young man with a smile that always managed to light up a room. We have heard so many stories about him from so many people and they have brought us great comfort.

“Lee loved life and he loved people. He had many friends from different walks of life - some with different religious beliefs and cultures. But this made no difference to Lee - he always treated others with the greatest of respect.”

It continued: “We are struggling to come to terms with his loss of and we are truly grateful for everybody’s support. We would like to emphasise that Lee would not want people to use his name as an excuse to carry out attacks against others. We would not wish any other families to go through this harrowing experience and appeal to everyone to keep calm and show their respect in a peaceful manner.”

BELOW: Supporters of Unite Against Fascism scuffle with police in central London yesterday. They were holding a counter-demonstration as the far-right British National Party (BNP) protested against the killing of Lee Rigby. Police kept apart a small group of far-right protesters and a much larger anti-racist crowd in London to stop them from coming to blows over how to respond to the killing of Rigby last week.