The Windsor Castle Christmas Day intruder has been detained under the Mental Health Act, as British tabloids uncovered a video in which he allegedly threatened to assassinate the queen, in “revenge” for the UK’s colonial crimes.
UK media outlets have linked Saturday’s arrest to a Snapchat video of a man claiming that he planned to kill Queen Elizabeth as revenge for the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre of 1919. Wearing a black hoodie and white mask while holding a crossbow, he said in a distorted voice, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry for what I’ve done and what I will do. I will attempt to assassinate Elizabeth, queen of the Royal Family.”
Just 24 minutes after the video was shared, a suspect was apprehended by armed officers on the castle’s grounds, about 500 meters from the queen’s private apartments, according to The Sun. He had scaled a spiked outer wall with a rope ladder to breach the property, triggering alarms and being spotted by surveillance cameras. The queen was having breakfast at the time, and police informed her and other royal family members of the incident.
The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, also known as the Massacre of Amritsar, occurred in British India’s Punjab state, where colonial troops killed an estimated 379 protesters and injured about 1,200 more.
The man in the video said he’s an Indian Sikh. “This is revenge for those who have died in the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh Massacre,” he said. “It’s also revenge for those who have been killed, humiliated and discriminated on because of their race.”
Surveillance footage from Windsor Castle shows the intruder wearing a black sweatsuit and white mask, like the man in the Snapchat video. The outfit was thought to have been inspired by Star Wars, while the man referred to himself as a Sith, in reference to the enemies of the Jedi Knights. He also said that his name “was” Jaswant Singh Chail, and that now he “is Darth Jones.”
Police haven’t identified the suspect by name, but said they are investigating the video as part of the probe. The intruder was sectioned under the Mental Health Act, meaning he will be confined under psychiatric care pending prosecution.