Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Meet John Smeaton: One Kick and He Is The Hero of Glasgow [Kicked Terrorist Butt]
Wall Street Journal Online ^ | 07/07/07 | ALISTAIR MACDONALD and IAN MCDONALD

Posted on 07/07/2007 1:37:47 PM PDT by Enchante

GLASGOW -- Last Saturday afternoon, baggage handler John Smeaton was standing in front of Glasgow Airport smoking a cigarette when a Jeep Cherokee burst into flames nearby. He watched its burning driver emerge. A police officer pursued the passenger.

What happened next has turned Mr. Smeaton, 31 years old, into an unlikely folk hero. When he saw the passenger hitting the officer, Mr. Smeaton ran over and kicked the assailant.

Mr. Smeaton has been interviewed on the BBC, CNN and other networks about his response to the attack in which two suspected terrorists attempted to ram into the airport's main terminal. (See the CNN interview.) In a Glaswegian accent that is at times impenetrable -- Australia's Channel 7 subtitled its interview with him -- Mr. Smeaton voiced a defiance that has turned him into a de facto spokesman for Glasgow's fighting spirit. His message to terrorists: "You come to Glasgow, we don't stand for it," he says. "We'll just set aboot ye." (Translation: "In Glasgow, we'll just deck you.")

By the next evening, an admirer had created a Web site devoted to Mr. Smeaton -- nicknaming him Smeato. It includes links to his media interviews, purported details from his past (he once owned a ferret) and a plea for Britons to buy him a pint in the bar at the airport's Holiday Inn hotel. There is also a picture of Osama bin Laden with the caption: "You told me John Smeaton was off on Saturdays!"

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; United Kingdom; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: asskicking; gla; glasgow; hero; letsroll; scots; smeaton; terror
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-48 last
To: dblshot
I heard of a similar case here in the States where some genius tried to carjack a judo team that was on its way to a state finals match.

They basically lined up and took a number ('here - let me have a go at him!') and when the police arrived the poor guy crawled over and begged them to arrest him . . . .

41 posted on 07/08/2007 10:44:20 AM PDT by AnAmericanMother ((Ministrix of Ye Chase, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment)))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: AnAmericanMother
when the police arrived the poor guy crawled over and begged them to arrest him . . . .

LOL!! Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time!

I have some Scots-Irish in my background. My maternal grandfather was Italian, and my maternal grandmother was Irish. Not completely sure of the ethnicity of my paternal grandparents, though I know there is some Indian there; some family members say Cherokee. They were hardscrabble Mississippi folks, though, so I'm guessing they were part Scots-Irish, as were many who lived back in the woods.

I've always had an affinity for Celtic music; maybe that 'splains it!

42 posted on 07/08/2007 4:14:20 PM PDT by SuziQ
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: SuziQ
We're supposed to have some Cherokees in the family too, but no proof and certainly not enough Cherokee blood to be even an associate member of the tribe!

We are some pure Scottish, some pure Irish, and some of the Scotch-Irish (i.e. the Lowland Scots who were sent by Cromwell to colonize Northern Ireland).

I don't look that Irish - I'm one of the "black Irish" - i.e. look more like a Spaniard than a "typical" Irishwoman. My husband is actually half Irish with the other half a grab-bag of French, German, English and lord knows what. But what's really funny is that our daughter got BOTH Irish halves . . . she is a pure Irish red-headed colleen (although her hair has darkened with age, she has bright grey eyes and incredibly fair skin, sunburns on a cloudy day, and her features look like we mail-ordered her from Dublin.) She went to Spain for the summer to live with a local family, and everyone refused to believe she was American -- "No! You MUST be Irish!"

43 posted on 07/08/2007 4:41:56 PM PDT by AnAmericanMother ((Ministrix of Ye Chase, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment)))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]

To: Enchante
Please remember that “Smeato” wasn't the only one who went for them.

Glasgow - The only place where the police have to protect suicide bombers from the general public.

44 posted on 07/09/2007 3:22:07 AM PDT by weegie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: AnAmericanMother
They basically lined up and took a number ('here - let me have a go at him!') and when the police arrived the poor guy crawled over and begged them to arrest him . . . .

My karate sensei's wife was a 100-lb slip of a woman, but a third degree black belt. A man twice her size once attacked her as she was putting groceries in her car-- she fractured his windpipe and hyperextended his knee. He was hospitalized for weeks and crippled for life. Yay! Too bad she didn't kill him, but it's the next best thing.

-ccm

45 posted on 09/10/2007 4:21:57 AM PDT by ccmay (Too much Law; not enough Order.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: ccmay
I think your average thug is so shocked when a woman fights back that they freeze. They expect meek compliance -- good when they don't get it.

I tell my kids don't ever get in a car with a thug. Kick, scream, fight (they're both green belts in Aikido - the dojo has a belt program for the kids) but you might as well die there as off in some remote location.

46 posted on 09/10/2007 6:37:14 AM PDT by AnAmericanMother ((Ministrix of Ye Chase, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment)))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: Enchante
Thread Resurrection Alert!

JOHN SMEATON IS RUNNING FOR A SEAT IN PARLIAMENT!

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20090924/tuk-terror-hero-stands-for-parliament-6323e80.html

SET ABOUT 'EM, SMEATO!

47 posted on 10/01/2009 4:37:46 PM PDT by AngryJawa (Obama's Success is America's Failure)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: AngryJawa

lovin’ it!!!

thanks for the update


48 posted on 10/03/2009 1:51:15 PM PDT by Enchante (Speak Truth to Power: Hey, Obama, YOU LIE!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-48 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson