A jury on Thursday convicted two British Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale of murdering serviceman fusilier Lee Rigby who was run down with a car and stabbed to death on a London street in May, The Associated Press reported. The 25-year-old Rigby was walking toward his barracks when he was hit by a car, then stabbed and nearly decapitated by a cleaver, according to news reports.
Adelbolajo was filmed by a passerby moments after the attack, where he justified the killing as revenge for British troops killing people abroad.
"An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," Adelbolajo repeatedly said in the video. He later told the police, in an interview played in court that Rigby had been targeted because "he was the soldier that was spotted first," The AP also reported.
The trial at London's Central Criminal Court lasted three weeks where Adebolajo called the attack a "military operation," and depicted himself and the other assailant as soldiers of Allah.
"The whole country was completely shocked by the murder of Lee Rigby and the whole country united in condemnation of what happened and I'm sure everyone will welcome these verdicts. "We have to redouble our efforts to confront the poisonous narrative of extremism and violence that lay behind this and make sure we do everything to beat it in our country," said Prime Minister David Cameron.
"This horrific attack, which took place in broad daylight on the streets of London, shocked the country and was intended to divide communities. It had largely the opposite effect and has, in fact, brought people together," added Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick, the head of the Metropolitan Police's specialist operations.
After the attack, the terrorists "waited at the scene, charged a police car as it arrived a few minutes later, and were shot and wounded by officers," The AP reported. The defendants' lawyer said that they purposely used a 90-year-old unloaded gun to ensure police would shoot them so that they "would achieve martyrdom."
"Adebolajo, who comes from a Christian family and converted to Islam in his teens, was arrested in November 2010 near the Kenya-Somalia border and eventually returned to Britain. Kenyan officials said he intended to join an Islamic militant group in Somalia," The AP reported.
The two were soon radicalized, and were not accused of being linked to a wider conspiracy.
