Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, British born men influenced by al-Qaida, were convicted of murdering an off-duty serviceman on Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
The two extremist called themselves "soldiers of Allah," and are guilty of running down Lee Rigby, 29, on a London street in May and stabbing him to death, according to the AP. Both men will be sentenced in early 2014.
After the verdict was read aloud, Adebolajo, 29, kissed a picture of the Quran as he was taken to the cells. Adebolajo, 22, had no reaction. He had pleaded not-guilty to murder but did not deny his participation in the attack, the AP reported.
Outside the Central Criminal Court in London, a statement from Rigby's family was read: "We are satisfied that justice has been done," the statement said. "But unfortunately no amount of justice will bring Lee back."
Rigby, 25-years-old when he was murdered, was a member of the Royal Fusiliers and had served in Afghanistan, according to the AP. He was returning to his barrack in south London when the two men ran him over in a car and then repeatedly stabbed him.
Witness reports say as Rigby lay on the ground, Adebowale repeatedly stabbed him and Adebolajo attempted to cut off his head, the AP reported. One witness described the attack, which took place on a busy street near a primary school, as looking "like a butcher attacking a joint of meat."
Adebolajo was filmed shortly after the act covered in blood and holding the knife saying "because Muslims are dying daily by British soldiers," and "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," the AP reported.
After Rigby's murder, fear of Islamic extremists grew and lead to attacks on mosques and Islamic centers, according to the AP.
The Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain said the murder was a "barbaric act," and the "Muslim communities then, as now, were united in their condemnation of this crime," the AP reported.
