Murder of Lee Rigby

On the afternoon of 22 May 2013, Fusilier Lee James Rigby, a 25-year-old drummer and machine-gunner in the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was killed while walking along Wellington Street in Woolwich, southeast London, returning to his barracks after duties at the Tower of London. Two men, Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, drove a car into him at 30–40 mph, knocking him to the ground, then attacked him with knives and a cleaver. The assailants dragged Rigby's body into the road and remained at the scene, telling bystanders they had killed a British soldier to avenge Muslims killed by the British military. A bystander, Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, engaged one of the men in conversation after realising Rigby was dead. Video recorded by a bystander captured one attacker stating the killing was in response to Muslims dying "daily by British soldiers."

Unarmed police arrived nine minutes after the first emergency call, with armed officers arriving five minutes later. When the two men charged at police brandishing a cleaver and a revolver, officers fired eight shots, wounding both men, who were then arrested and taken to separate hospitals. The revolver was later found to be a non-functioning 90-year-old firearm. A post-mortem found Rigby died of multiple incised wounds.

Adebolajo and Adebowale, both British men of Nigerian descent raised in Christian households who had converted to Islam, were known to British security services prior to the attack. Following their release from hospital, both were charged with Rigby's murder along with other offences. They pleaded not guilty at the Old Bailey in September 2013. Their trial began on 29 November 2013, and on 19 December 2013 a jury found both men guilty of murder. On 26 February 2014, Adebolajo was sentenced to a whole life order, and Adebowale received a minimum term of 45 years. Both men later lost appeals against their sentences, with the Court of Appeal rejecting their challenges on 3 December 2014.

The attack was widely condemned by UK political and Muslim leaders, though it also prompted a documented rise in anti-Muslim incidents across the country, including attacks on several mosques. A parliamentary inquiry published in November 2014 found that Rigby's death could not have been prevented, despite the attackers having previously appeared in intelligence investigations. In June 2018, Adebolajo reportedly expressed regret for the killing through prison sources; Rigby's mother said she would not forgive him. Rigby was given a military funeral in July 2013 and has since been commemorated with memorials in Woolwich, his hometown of Middleton, and at the National Memorial Arboretum. His parents established the Lee Rigby Foundation to support bereaved military families.