STABBINGS AT NOTTING HILL CARNIVAL WITH ZOMBIE KNIVES

 Violence at Carnival

But not at the 2023 Toronto Caribbean Carnival

There is a disturbing video currently circulating throughout the British Isles, showing a white reveler attacking an unarmed black man with a machete during last weekend's Notting Hill Carnival. The London two-day festival includes a huge street parade considered to be the largest street festival in Europe and the second-largest carnival parade in the world.

According to recent press reports, over 2 million people took part in the parade, but violent riots and vicious attacks plagued the festival, leaving eight people stabbed, with a 29-year-old man remaining in critical condition.

There were 275 arrests across the two days of the carnival, with 165 arrests on parade Monday for a range of offenses, including possession of offensive weapons, assaults (including a sexual assault) on police officers, possession of drugs, and sexual offenses. According to the British Independent newspaper, "the Government has announced plans to ban more zombie knives – which have fearsome-looking long blades – and machetes with no practical use, with police given more powers to seize and destroy them."

Notting Hill Carnival is not the only carnival this year to report incidents of assaults. Last weekend, the festive atmosphere of the Worcester Caribbean American Carnival in Massachusetts was abruptly shut down after two innocent bystanders became victims of a shooting incident. Meanwhile, in Boston, seven people were shot at the 50th annual Caribbean carnival celebration in that city. This year’s carnival was not canceled, though, because the acts of violence occurred on the outskirts of the parade.

Earlier this year in the Caribbean, there was one death as violence marred the St. Thomas USVI Carnival. Police in Grenada confirmed that one person was killed on their Carnival Monday due to gun violence. A Trinidad carnival event near Hasely Crawford Stadium also saw the shooting deaths of two people.

And now for the good news! Once again this year’s Toronto Caribbean Carnival parade appears to have been major incident-free. There were no police reports of violence at the day-long parade in early August. There was a major crime event at Bathurst and Lakeshore a few kilometers from Exhibition Place. It happened several hours after the parade ended, and it doesn't appear that the crime was related to the parade.