The photo of Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana evokes a chilling sense of malevolence and prompts reflections on the nature of evil. His face embodies a disturbing mix of mental illness and sinister intent, prompting inquiries about the underlying causes of such horrific actions. Despite being diagnosed with various mental health issues and showing prior warning signs, authorities failed to intervene effectively. The piece suggests that societal reluctance to confront raw evil allows it to manifest, as seen in cases like Rudakubana’s. Ultimately, it raises questions about accountability, the existence of evil, and the inadequacies of justice in addressing it.
What do you see when you look at this photo of Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana? It’s the anguished face of a seriously mentally ill man, a deeply troubled young man who committed horrific atrocities through mania and paranoia. Is it?
Or is it something else, something more intangible, even unreal? His face is distorted, his frown is hollow, and his eyes are flat and unfathomable, yet somehow burning with malice. Even in the photos, they seem to project an aura of pure evil, an indescribable menace.
We’ve seen it many times over the years. Look at the mug shots of Moors murderers Myra Hindley and Ian Brady. Look at Charles Manson, Ted Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber, Richard Ramirez, aka the Night Stalker, or Jeffrey Dahmer.
Look at the faces of Asian grooming gangs in Rotherham, Huddersfield, Bradford and many other towns and cities. The same ancient evil stares at us, young and old, black and white.
What is this? Is it even human? Or is it something we don’t understand? What drives a 17-year-old to chase a room full of innocent girls and stab them in the back as they run for their lives?
What kind of supernatural force evades all detection by countless human authorities and, despite repeated warning signals, slips through countless safety nets until it is too late?
Is what we’re dealing with here, the reason why so many people took to the streets with such outrage last summer, actually not of this world? Could it be that it comes from a place beyond our understanding, hidden in human form, but not human at all?
When we think of the devil, the embodiment of evil, he often appears as a stereotype, and even as a cartoon. Horns, bat wings, cloven hooves, large teeth, and perhaps fire and brimstone.
Southport killer Axel Rudakubana, 17, chased a room full of innocent girls and stabbed them in the back as they fled for their lives.
But it’s simply a caricature meant to scare children into saying a prayer. Most adults do not support the concept of pure evil, much less the idea that there is a solid demonic presence in the world.
I can’t help but say that I’m angry, but I think that’s a mistake. I don’t believe in the existence of the devil as defined in folklore any more than I believe in the existence of a good bearded gentleman sitting on a cloud and looking down on us all.
But I believe that evil is a very real and intentional force in this world, and that we must fight it every day.
I know this just like when someone is lying to me or when something or someone can’t be trusted at all. It’s a gut feeling, a sixth sense that I can’t fully explain, but over time I’ve learned to ignore it at my peril.
Some people may think that’s irrational, but I’m sure there are many others who will understand exactly what I’m saying. Especially when they look into the eyes of someone like Rudakbana and see an unmistakable lack of humanity.
To be human is to be able to love the world, experience compassion, and see the beauty and joy of the world.
That ability, our human essence, is often defined as what distinguishes us from animals. But no animal, even the most ferocious species, would do something like Rudakubana.
There must be something else at work. There’s a great line in the 1995 movie The Usual Suspects that Kevin Spacey’s character Verbal says. “The greatest trick the devil ever did was to convince the world that he did not exist.”
How true that is! In this modern world, surrounded by all the wonderful technological inventions, we are convinced that there is no devil. We are too enlightened to believe in superstitions. Only simple people will enjoy such nonsense.
Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar were all victims of a knife attack by Rudakubana while attending a dance class in Southport.
Rather, we try to justify evil and, in some cases, justify it. Any excuse will work: cultural differences (gang grooming), political injustice (Israel’s October 7th massacre), mental health issues, trauma. Anything but acknowledging the truth that these are all expressions of malicious and persistent malice. Terrifying power.
That’s probably also why we don’t always recognize it. Why, like Rudakubana, it often seems to catch us unawares. Despite everything that history teaches us, we never fully expect it, even when it confronts us. Not that there weren’t any signs.
When Rudakubana was 13, he burst into Range High School in Formby, pulled out a hockey stick and launched a frenzied attack on his fellow pupils.
He was then referred three times to the government’s anti-extremism program, Prevent, and was in frequent contact with police, courts, the justice system and mental health services in the years leading up to the murder.
He had various diagnoses of anxiety and autism and admitted carrying a knife more than 10 times. But very few people had the courage to say, “This person is bad and must be stopped.” It seems only his father tried.
I heard that this young man’s parents fled the genocide in their home country of Rwanda. Perhaps, having witnessed evil himself,
Alphonse Rudakubana recognized it in his son. Now the blame game begins.
Keir Starmer was reluctant to launch a public inquiry into the child rape gang scandal but has now moved swiftly on the issue, holding a press conference yesterday and saying he would leave “no stone unturned” on the matter. I promised. Ask “hard questions, free from the burden of cultural or institutional sensitivities.”
Those are really wonderful words. But during the riots following the Southport murders last summer, he was quick to dismiss Rudakbana, particularly those who were similarly asking “difficult questions” about the motive for the atrocity.
Courts, under pressure from governments, have moved swiftly and relentlessly to impose punitive sentences on those whose judgment has been clouded by emotion, often in ways that are reprehensible. .
Afterwards, many wondered why police withheld certain details about Rudakhbana, such as his fascination with Hitler and the fact that he downloaded extremist material from the internet and made the deadly poison ricin in his room. I wondered.
If we believe the Bible, it was the devil in the form of a serpent who first tempted Eve to taste the forbidden fruit.
But in this world, demons don’t have to go out of their way to charm anyone. He has the weakness of a woke politician and the stupidity of an organization steeped in political correctness, paralyzed by liberal dogma and unable to work for itself. And what a great job they seem to be doing.
The final twist in its fiery tail: Rudakubana will never face true justice. Although he has pleaded guilty to all charges, he cannot be sentenced to life in prison because he was only 17 years old at the time. The most he can get is life, but as we well know, that doesn’t mean it literally.
In the meantime, we the good citizens of Britain will pay to keep him fed and watered at taxpayer expense. Games, sets and matches. Evil wins again.
