London reeling after weekend of violence

The United Kingdom capital is reeling today after a spate of violence on the weekend that left three people dead, three others injured, 14 suspected perpetrators in custody, and Londoners fearing additional gang-related violence.

The five apparently separate incidents, one shooting and four stabbings, all happened within a 24-hour period, leading United States President Donald Trump to ignore normal diplomatic constraints and criticize a democratically elected public official in an independent foreign country.

Trump retweeted a post by a rightwing commentator who claimed London was a "Stab-City" and "Khan's Londonistan" to attack London's mayor, Sadiq Khan, saying: "LONDON needs a new mayor ASAP. Khan is a disaster-will only get worse!"

The US president followed up a few hours later by saying: "He is a national disgrace who is destroying the City of London!"

A spokesman for the mayor said he was too busy working with the police and "focusing on supporting London's communities" to get into a slanging match with Trump.

Khan said: "I am sickened to hear that … young lives have been ended within minutes of each other … Our overstretched police are working around the clock to keep Londoners safe. They need our support to end this scourge of violence."

Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the UK's official opposition, the Labour Party, said it was "absolutely awful" that Trump chose to use "the tragedy of people being murdered to attack the mayor".

He tweeted that Trump and other rightwing critics were spreading "hateful and divisive rhetoric".

"They seek to divide at a time we need to come together," Corbyn wrote.

A Metropolitan Police Service spokesman called on members of the public to help solve the crimes that started on Friday afternoon and that affected communities in south and east London.

"The police cannot solve this problem alone," the spokesman told the Guardian newspaper. "Communities have a vital role to play in tackling violent crime. We want to hear from anyone who may have information about people who may carry knives or firearms, or who are involved in organized drug crime and violence."

The Office for National Statistics said in April that homicides in England and Wales had reached their highest level for a decade.

Knife crime has become more of a problem in recent years, growing by 6 percent in 2018 on the previous year. There was also a 2 percent increase in firearms offences during that period.

The three deaths on the weekend, two stabbings and one shooting, took the total number of homicides in London so far this year to 56. Last year was one of the worst ever for violence in London, with a total of 136 homicides for the year. The BBC reported that the rate works out at 1.5 killings for every 100,000 residents of Greater London.

The broadcaster pointed out that New York City in Trump's own country has a per capita murder rate that is twice that of London.