Olympic Rooftop Missiles Make Residents Fear 'Terrorist Attack'
Olympic rooftop missiles, designed as surface-to-air defenses for the games, have angered residents of the East End neighborhood where the three-week event will take place. Those living in the Fred Wigg Tower, a 17-story building in Leytonstone, believe that their home becoming a missile base opens the door for terrorist attack.
The Olympic rooftop missiles are capable of destroying a hijacked aircraft aiming to sabotage the July 27-Aug. 12 event, but despite the move for safety, residents brought the move to a lawsuit to attempt to stop the practice.
Marc Willers, who represented the residents in the case, told the High Court that the "fully justified fear that installation or deployment of the missile system on the roof of the Fred Wigg Tower gives rise to the additional risk that the tower itself may become the focus of a terrorist attack," according to the Associated Press.
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However, his claims fell on deaf ears. Judge Charles Haddon-Cave ruled Tuesday that the missile system posed "no real threat" to those living in the tower. The consequences were more personal for Brian Whelan, the journalist living in the Fred Wigg Tower who first publicized the issue- his landlords are trying their best to evict him.
"I'm being victimized for what I did," he said at a gathering, according to the Christian Science Monitor. "I am not sure how they are going to face a terrorist threat if that can't even face us."
British security forces, though, are putting significant efforts into the defense of the Olympic Games- especially since there have been increased communications by extremist groups recently, according to intelligence officials. 7,500 soldiers, RAF fighter jets, an aircraft carrier, and various police and private security are being used for the event.
Rooftop missiles have also been planned for another apartment building in the area, as well as at a reservoir, and along some hillsides in South London.
Per the judge's decision, the missiles should be placed on the Fred Wigg Tower in the next few days.
