Baghdad Protests Take on Sinister Edge with Lynching

Anti-government protesters in Baghdad on Thursday overpowered a man who shot and killed six people, beating him to death and then hanging his body on a light pole. The incident took place in Wathba Square, one of the smaller protest venues in the Iraqi capital. According to security officials, the man, wanted on drug charges, was fleeing authorities when he opened fire, killing four protesters and two local shop owners. The subsequent lynching was condemned by protest leaders, while Muqtada al–Sadr, a Shi’ite cleric who is both feared and respected, threatened to withdraw followers assigned to provide security at the protest venues if those involved do not turn themselves in within 48 hours. Protesters in Wathba Square and elsewhere in Baghdad have been subjected to random shootings over the past few weeks, with many blaming them on militias aligned with Iran. The protests, begin on October 1, have targeted government ineptitude and corruption, as well as Iran’s outsized influence on the country.