LONDON (AP) — Several hundred Birmingham residents rallied for peace and racial unity Sunday in memory of three Pakistani men run over and killed during last week's riots across England.
Police in Birmingham charged a third suspect Sunday with the murders of Haroon Jahan, 20, and brothers Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31.
The three men died Wednesday after a car struck them at high speed as they stood guard outside a row of South Asian-owned shops in west Birmingham, England's second-largest city 120 miles (190 kilometers) northwest of London. The attack raised fears of gang warfare between the area's South Asian and Caribbean gangs because residents identified the car-borne assailants as black. But public appeals for no retaliation, particularly from one victim's father, Tariq Jahan, have helped to keep passions at bay.
Police said Adam King, 23, would be arraigned Monday at Birmingham Magistrates Court on three counts of murder. Two others — 26-year-old Joshua Donald and a 17-year-old whose name was withheld because of his age — were arraigned Sunday on the same charges.
Speaking at Sunday's rally in a public park near the scene of the killings, Jahan told the crowd "that the three boys did not die in vain. They died for this community." He and several other speakers stood beneath a banner that read "One City, One Voice for Peace."
Five people died during four days of gang-fueled rioting that struck London Aug. 6 and spread to several other English cities. Police were criticized for responding too slowly, particularly in London, but eventually deployed huge numbers of officers at all riot zones to quell the mayhem.
Police are still questioning two men over the fatal shooting of a 26-year-old man during riots in Croydon, south London. And police said Sunday night they arrested a 16-year-old boy on suspicion of fatally beating a 68-year-old man who had tried to put out a fire set by rioters in Ealing, west London.
Britain's Justice Ministry says more than 1,200 people have been charged so far with riot-related offenses. Several courts heard cases Sunday for the first time in modern history to try to reduce the backlog of cases. Two judges also worked full time Sunday in authorizing search warrants for police raiding homes of suspected rioters in a hunt to reclaim stolen goods.
Many of the rioters and looters in Sunday's court sessions begged for leniency, claiming they didn't really know what they were doing. Few received it.
"I know what I've done is stupid. I regret it so much and I will pay anything," said Raymond Graham, a 30-year-old Croydon resident, who admits handling two stolen televisions and shuttling loots electronics in his car. He was refused bail.
Graham, who has five previous convictions, said he wanted to sell the TVs to pay off debts. "My son's 23 days old and I care for my grandmother. I will do anything. Please, please," he testified.
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