Sasha Johnson

Sasha Johnson (born 1993/94)^[1] is a British Black Lives Matter activist and member of Taking the Initiative Party (TTIP). A graduate of Ruskin College, she was involved in Rhodes Must Fall, Black Lives Matter and Kill the Bill protests.

On 23 May 2021, Johnson was shot in the head. Two days later, five people were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, one of whom was later charged with conspiracy to murder while the others were released on bail. A second man was charged on 12 June and two further men were charged on 17 June with conspiracy to murder. The four men are scheduled to stand trial in March 2022.

Background[]

Johnson graduated with a degree in community development and youth work from Ruskin College.^[2][3] She called herself "Oxford's Black Panther".^[4] Johnson runs a restaurant and has volunteered for food insecurity initiatives.^[5][6] She works in community activism and support, and was previously a youth worker.^[7][8][5]

Activism[]

Johnson campaigned for the Oxford Rhodes Must Fall campaign.^[4][7] She participated in the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.^[9] In response to a counter-protest which included a far-right presence with the stated intention of protecting war memorials, Johnson told The Guardian: "We're painted as thugs when the real thugs are disguised as protecting those memorials. And when they're drunk, they piss on those memorials."^[10][11] In August 2020, Johnson was an organiser for the Million People March, an anti-racist demonstration in London attended by around 400 people.^[12][8][13] In March 2021, Johnson was co-signatory to a statement alleging that police were targeting some Black protesters who participated in the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests by name, including by repeated phone calls, to deter them from engaging in Kill the Bill protests.^[14]

In summer 2020, Johnson was involved in the founding of the Taking The Initiative Party (TTIP); she serves on its Executive Leadership Committee.^[4][2] Sky News reported that the party was registered with the Electoral Commission around 2017.^[6] The party supports the decentralised Black Lives Matter movement but is unaffiliated with the specific organisation Black Lives Matter.^[4] Though the party considered running for the 2021 London mayoral election (originally scheduled for 2020) under the name "Black Lives Matter for the GLA", its first candidates for office stood in the May 2021 local elections.^[6]

TTIP said that a Twitter account purporting to be Johnson, and which they characterised as fake, made numerous Tweets, including one calling for white people to be enslaved. The account was suspended by Twitter in accordance with its platform-manipulation and spam policy. However, the messages have been widely circulated on social media, by users claiming them to be real.^[15]

Shooting[]

On 23 May 2021, Johnson was shot in the head. The Metropolitan Police were notified of the attack, in Peckham, London, around 3 a.m.^[2][16] TTIP said Johnson had previously received numerous death threats for her activism and her car was vandalised a month before the incident.^[17][18][19] According to a friend, Johnson was not the intended target of the shooting.^[16] A police spokesperson said a few hours later that the investigation was at an early stage, that they had no knowledge of prior threats^[20] and that no-one had yet been arrested over the incident.^[21] On 25 May, police were reported as saying that Johnson "had been shot by a group of four black men" while attending a party; Metropolitan Police Commander Alison Heydari said the men had "entered the garden of the property and discharged a firearm".^[22] It was later reported that another person attending the party was shot in the foot.^[23]

A vigil was held for Johnson outside King's College Hospital on the evening of 24 May, arranged by the UK chapter of the organisation Black Lives Matter.^[24]

On 26 May, five males between the ages of 17 and 28 were arrested on suspicion of the attempted murder of Johnson.^[25][26] An 18-year-old man was charged with conspiracy to murder; the four other males arrested were bailed.^[27][28][29] On 7 June, the police and Johnson's mother appealed for witnesses, as none of the thirty party guests had come forward.^[30] On 12 June, a second man was charged with conspiracy to murder.^[31] On 16 June 2021, it was announced that a 25-year-old man had been arrested in Kent on that day on suspicion of conspiracy to murder.^[32] On 17 June, two further men were charged with conspiracy to murder.^[33] After a plea hearing on 5 November, they are due to stand trial for six weeks, beginning on 7 March 2022.^[34]

As of 7 June, Johnson was still in hospital and under sedation in a critical condition, with "profound life-changing injuries" according to a police statement.^[30][35] The BBC reported on 16 June 2021 that since the shooting two operations had been carried out to release pressure on Johnson's brain but that she remained critically ill.^[32]

Responses[]

Diane Abbott, Labour Party MP suggested that the shooting was a racially motivated attack and targeted because of Johnson's activism, drawing criticism from a Home Office spokesperson.^[36]

TTIP criticised the police statement that nothing indicated the attack was targeted, asking how police were able to say that Johnson had not received credible threats without speaking to her,^[20] and said there was no evidence the shooting was carried out by four black males, as "[the TTIP] have multiple sources present at the incident who have confirmed to us that the attackers were all wearing balaclavas".^[3] TTIP said they were "disgusted by the way that this narrative has been portrayed as a 'Black on Black crime' and a 'gang crime,' not acknowledging that this is a hate crime or a targeted attack at worst".^[15]

Personal life[]

Johnson has two children.^{[7][17][16][5][37]}

References[]