Facebook page praising British killer removed after row
LONDON, July 15, 2010: The creator of a Facebook tribute to a British killer who shot himself dead after a standoff with police removed the page Thursday after it sparked condemnation, including from the prime minister.
Siobhan O'Dowd said she had taken down the page dedicated to Raoul Moat -- but was unrepentant and did not rule out reinstating the group, which had attracted more than 38,000 members.
She set up "R.I.P. Raoul Moat You Legend!" after the former nightclub bouncer killed himself on Saturday following one of Britain's biggest manhunts.
He was on the run for a week after shooting his ex-girlfriend and killing her new boyfriend, and shooting and severely injuring a policeman.
Explaining her decision to remove the page, O'Dowd told a British radio station: "I don't know really. A few of us came to a decision but it's going to be up again running.
"We don't condone what he did as what he did was wrong. I feel sorry for the families but he was still a human being at the end of the day."
She added that the killer "hid from police for a week... I think he's a legend for keeping the police on their toes."
British Prime Minister David Cameron led condemnation of the online tribute page and lawmakers and the media joined his call for Facebook to act.
But the social networking giant refused to bow to the pressure, insisting that its users had the right to express their own views.
Cameron said in the House of Commons on Wednesday: "It is absolutely clear that Raoul Moat was a callous murderer, full stop, end of story. I cannot understand any wave, however small, of public sympathy for this man."
He was responding to a question from Conservative lawmaker Chris Heaton-Harris, who urged Facebook to remove the page.
"We don't want to set laws on Facebook at all, but we do want people who are hosting these sites and other pages to have some responsibility," Heaton-Harris told BBC radio on Thursday.
He condemned the comments on the site, which include "RIP Moat. Misunderstood man who was killed by the brutal police who ruined his life", and "U are a true legend".
The Internet group triggered a media storm, with Britain's top-selling daily newspaper The Sun dismissing the "Facebook morons" who idolised the killer.
"The prime minister deserves credit for swiftly passing on his anger to Facebook bosses," the tabloid said in an editorial. "How can such revolting web pages be justified? They should be removed."
Facebook had earlier defended the decision to leave the tribute online, saying: "We have 26 million people on Facebook in the UK, each of which has their own opinion, and they are entitled to express their views on Facebook as long as their comments do not violate our terms."
Not all the members of the group supported Moat -- some people posted messages condemning him.
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