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1981 Assassination Attempt on Queen Elizabeth II May Have Been Covered Up

posted by Fnord666 on Monday March 05 2018, @02:54PM   Printer-friendly
from the near-miss dept.

takyon writes:

A Teen Tried To Shoot Queen Elizabeth In 1981, Intelligence Report Says

New Zealand police say they are re-examining an apparent assassination attempt against Queen Elizabeth II. Declassified documents from New Zealand's intelligence service, newly released to an investigative journalist at the news website Stuff, indicate that there may have been a cover-up after teenager Christopher Lewis fired at the queen's motorcade in Dunedin. At the time, officials suggested to journalists that the bang of Lewis' gun was a sign falling over or firecrackers going off.

"Lewis did indeed originally intend to assassinate the queen, however did not have a suitable vantage point from which to fire, nor a sufficiently high-powered rifle for the range from the target," one declassified memo states.

[...] The 17-year-old was never charged with attempted murder or with treason, according to the news investigation.

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  • (Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Monday March 05 2018, @04:38PM (1 child)

    by bzipitidoo (4388) on Monday March 05 2018, @04:38PM (#648027) Journal

    Yeah, bumping off a figurehead is unlikely to achieve much on a political level. It could serve as a symbolic act, but that's about it. If the perp was an Islamic terrorist, or a state sponsored assassin from Gaddafi's Libya or the Irish Republic Army, that could stir things up.

    But she's not the Archduke of Austria Hungary and Europe isn't the powder keg it was in 1914. Emperor Franz Joseph, who didn't even like his heir, was so old he had to delegate Austria's response to younger people, who it turned out were much too hot blooded. He felt their ultimatum to Serbia was extreme, but let them go ahead with it, must have lacked the energy to make them tone it down.

    It sounds like the perp was a run of the mill criminally insane loner who wanted the notoriety and infamy, and didn't even have a political agenda.

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  • (Score: 2) by requerdanos on Monday March 05 2018, @05:18PM

    by requerdanos (5997) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 05 2018, @05:18PM (#648046) Journal

    the assassin was a career criminal who wanted to become a high-level terrorist among British Neo-Nazis and thought bumping off Elizabeth II was a good way of building his resume.

    Yeah, bumping off a figurehead is unlikely to achieve much on a political level.

    I don't think he wanted to achieve much on a political level, given that his motive was to pad his killer resume, not affect political change.

    It could serve as a symbolic act, but that's about it....sounds like the perp was a run of the mill criminally insane loner who wanted the notoriety and infamy, and didn't even have a political agenda.

    Or, you know, maybe the would-be assassin wanted to be a high-level terrorist among British Neo-Nazis and thought bumping off the queen would build his resume.

    Excerpts from a Metro.co.uk [metro.co.uk] story from last month:

    [Christopher John Lewis, The attempted assassin,] claimed that he had been told to kill the monarch by an Englishman called the Snowman who told him he thought the Queen should be ‘knocked off’ [and] told police that he was not scared of anything, except the Snowman, who he met at a coffee house in Dunedin.

    [Lewis described a] far-right movement that was beginning to get momentum in New Zealand, leading Lewis to begin to fantasise about leading his own local terrorist cell....

    [Lewis stated] that he wanted to kill the Queen, and make himself the most famous murderer on the planet in the process. [I]n 1983, plans were [also] discovered in his cell detailing a plot to kill Prince Charles, Princess Diana and a young Prince William....

    So, it's possible that he wanted to be a high-level terrorist among British Neo-Nazis and thought bumping off the queen would build his resume. And not, say, affect political change as a loner.

    The 17-year-old was never charged with attempted murder or with treason, according to the news investigation.

    No, but he was charged with "possessing a firearm in a public place, discharging a firearm and a further 15 charges including aggravated robbery and arson" and jailed for three years.