London Van Attack
Early Monday morning a man drove a van into worshipers at a London mosque. While the motives are not clear, many are speculated that the attack was brought on by anti-Muslim hate. The man was taken to a local hospital for a psych evaluation.
The man suspected of mowing down a crowd exiting Ramadan prayers at a London mosque early Monday was captured on video blowing a kiss at bystanders as he was hauled off to a hospital for a mental health evaluation.
At least one person was killed and 10 others were injured in the assault, which authorities were treating as a terrorist attack.
A 48-year-old man was arrested in the collision with pedestrians outside the Muslim Welfare House, Metropolitan police said. People at the scene shouted at him: “Why did you do that? Why?”
The incident occurred outside the Finsbury Park Mosque shortly after midnight after Ramadan prayers. Police said all of the injured were members of the Muslim community. Muslim leaders decried the collision as a hate crime and asked the public to stay calm.
Police said eight of the injured were taken to three hospitals and two suffered minor injuries and were treated at the scene.
Witnesses reported seeing at least one person receiving chest compressions. Police said that person was the lone death in the incident, but it was unclear if it was the van that caused the death.
Prime Minister Theresa May described the attack as a “sickening” attempt to destroy liberties that unite Britain, such as freedom of worship. She added that the man acted alone. May said earlier she would chair an emergency security Cabinet session later Monday and that her thoughts were with the injured, their loved ones and emergency officials who responded to the incident.
A leader of the Muslim Council of Britain called for extra security at mosques in light of the apparent attack. The group’s general secretary, Harun Khan, described the incident as a hate crime against Muslims.
“During the night, ordinary British citizens were set upon while they were going about their lives, completing their night worship,” he said. “It appears from eyewitness accounts that the perpetrator was motivated by Islamophobia.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan, the first Muslim to serve in that position, said extra police would be deployed. He called the incident a “horrific terrorist attack.”
Video filmed in the immediate aftermath showed a Caucasian man being detained by police. Someone in the crowd yelled to others not to harm the man while he was taken into custody, according to AP.
Steve
Steve is an affordable multifamily housing professional that is also the co-founder of Whiskey Congress. Steve has written for national publications such as The National Marijuana News and other outlets as a guest blogger on topics covering sports, politics, and cannabis. Steve loves whiskey, cigars, and uses powerlifting as an outlet to deal with the fact that no one listens to his brilliant ideas.
