Overview

Germaine Lindsay was a Jamaican-born suicide bomber in the coordinated London bombings on July 7, 2005, known colloquially as the 7/7 bombings.“July 7 2005 London Bombings Fast Facts,” CNN, June 29, 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/06/world/europe/july-7-2005-london-bombings-fast-facts/. He was a member of the four-person al-Qaeda-linked terror cell responsible for the attack, which included British citizens Shehzad Tanweer, Hasib Hussain, and Mohammad Sidique Khan.“7 July London bombings: What happened that day?” BBC News, July 3, 2015, http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-33253598;
“The bombers,” BBC News, 2005, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/uk/05/london_blasts/investigation/html/bombers.stm. The men targeted the London Underground transit system and a double-decker bus, collectively killing 52 people and injuring over 770 others.“July 7 2005 London Bombings Fast Facts,” CNN, June 29, 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/06/world/europe/july-7-2005-london-bombings-fast-facts/. Alone, Lindsay killed 26 and injured 340 of those victims.“Report of the Official Account of the Bombings in London on 7^th July 2005,” United Kingdom Home Office, May 11, 2006, 17, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/228837/1087.pdf. Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the bombings in a video released in September 2005.Alan Cowell, “Al Jazeera Video Links London Bombings to Al Qaeda,” New York Times, September 2, 2005, http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/02/world/europe/al-jazeera-video-links-london-bombings-to-al-qaeda.html?_r=0.

Lindsay was born in Jamaica in 1985 and moved with his mother to Huddersfield, England, when he was one year old.Audrey Gillan, Ian Cobain, and Hugh Muir, “Jamaican-born convert to Islam ‘coordinated fellow bombers’,” Guardian (London), July 16, 2005, https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/jul/16/july7.uksecurity6. He attended local schools and was known among his peers as a popular, clever, artistic, musical, and sporty student.Audrey Gillan, Ian Cobain, and Hugh Muir, “Jamaican-born convert to Islam ‘coordinated fellow bombers’,” Guardian (London), July 16, 2005, https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/jul/16/july7.uksecurity6. As a teenager, Lindsay took up kickboxing and martial arts.“Report of the Official Account of the Bombings in London on 7^th July 2005,” United Kingdom Home Office, May 11, 2006, 17, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/228837/1087.pdf.

Lindsay converted to Islam in 2000 at the approximate age of 15, becoming fluent in Arabic and committing long passages of the Quran to memory. Soon after his conversion, Lindsay was disciplined by his high school for distributing leaflets in support of al-Qaeda on the school’s campus.Audrey Gillan, Ian Cobain, and Hugh Muir, “Jamaican-born convert to Islam ‘coordinated fellow bombers’,” Guardian (London), July 16, 2005, https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/jul/16/july7.uksecurity6;
“Report of the Official Account of the Bombings in London on 7^th July 2005,” United Kingdom Home Office, May 11, 2006, 18, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/228837/1087.pdf. He is believed to have been influenced by the internationally-banned Jamaican preacher Abdullah Faisal. According to the U.K. Home Office’s report on the 7/7 bombings, Lindsay attended at least one lecture given by Faisal and also listened to recordings of his lectures.“Report of the Official Account of the Bombings in London on 7^th July 2005,” United Kingdom Home Office, May 11, 2006, 18, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/228837/1087.pdf. Faisal, based in Jamaica, is the leader of Authentic Tauheed, a radical organization aligned with ISIS.“Report of the Official Account of the Bombings in London on 7^th July 2005,” United Kingdom Home Office, May 11, 2006, 18, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/228837/1087.pdf.

Lindsay became a close associate of Mohammad Sidique Khan, the future mastermind of the 7/7 bombings, at some point in late 2004. The men moved in the same Islamic circles in the towns of Dewsbury and Huddersfield.“Report of the Official Account of the Bombings in London on 7^th July 2005,” United Kingdom Home Office, May 11, 2006, 18, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/228837/1087.pdf.

On July 7, 2005, Lindsay was met by Khan, Tanweer, and Hasib Hussain in Luton, England. The four men arrived in London’s King’s Cross railway station by train, where they dispersed and detonated their devices in the underground ‘tube’ and on a double-decker bus.“7 July London bombings: What happened that day?” BBC News, July 3, 2015, http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-33253598. At just before 9 a.m., Lindsay detonated his bomb on a southbound Piccadilly line train after leaving King’s Cross underground station, killing 26 people. After the attack, Police discovered a 9mm handgun in Lindsay’s red Fiat Brava car at Luton train station.Audrey Gillan, Ian Cobain, and Hugh Muir, “Jamaican-born convert to Islam ‘coordinated fellow bombers’,” Guardian (London), July 16, 2005, https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/jul/16/july7.uksecurity6;
“Report of the Official Account of the Bombings in London on 7^th July 2005,” United Kingdom Home Office, May 11, 2006, 10, https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/228837/1087.pdf.