The Murder of Stephen Lawrence
History Daily
History Daily
4.4 • 2.5K Ratings
🗓️ 22 April 2025
⏱️ 19 minutes
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Summary
April 22, 1993. Eighteen-year-old Stephen Lawrence is murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in London, England.
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Transcript
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| 0:32.6 | Thank you. It's around 10.30 p.m. on April 22nd, 1993, at a bus stop in southeast London, England. 18-year-old student, Duane Brooks, peers at the timetable as his friend Stephen Lawrence |
| 0:38.3 | fidgets to keep warm in the cold spring air. |
| 0:41.3 | Stephen is an aspiring architect the same age as Dwayne. |
| 0:44.3 | Boys have known each other since the start of high school, and they've spent the evening |
| 0:48.3 | at Stephen's uncle's house playing video games. |
| 0:51.3 | When the time came for them to head home, they decided the quickest route |
| 0:54.5 | would be to change buses here on Well Hall Road. But they've been waiting for a while now, |
| 1:00.0 | and the bus hasn't arrived. The delay is starting to make Duane nervous. The area they're in, |
| 1:05.3 | Eltham, is a predominantly white suburb. And as black boys, Duane doesn't feel he or Stephen is safe. |
| 1:11.8 | He's heard too many stories of other black Londoners getting harassed or attacked here. |
| 1:17.0 | So Stephen wanders farther up the street looking for any sign of their bus. |
| 1:21.2 | Duane calls after him asking if he can see anything. |
| 1:24.7 | But before his friend can answer, Duane hears another voice. A group of six white |
| 1:29.8 | teenagers has appeared on the opposite side of the street. One of the boys shouts a racial slur. |
| 1:35.3 | Then they all rush across the road. Dwayne bolts in the opposite direction, screaming |
| 1:41.3 | at Stephen to do the same, but Stephen doesn't have the time. When Dwayne |
| 1:45.6 | glances back, he sees a white boy strike Stephen with what looks like an iron bar. Stephen falls |
| 1:51.8 | to the ground and is instantly engulfed by the rest of the pack. There's a flurry of kicks and punches, |
... |
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