(Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)
Driver Arrested After Intentionally Veering Van Into Crowd Of Muslims
This is crazy… A 48-year-old man was arrested after veering his van into a group of people who were helping assist a sick man outside a mosque in the Finsbury Park section of London. That man later died.
According to NY Daily News reports:
The vehicle plowed into several people, wounding at least 10 along Seven Sisters Road in Finsbury Park around 12:15 a.m. Monday local time, according to London’s Metropolitan Police.
Eight people were rushed to three local hospitals. Two more people were treated at the scene for minor injuries, police and London Ambulance Service officials said.
All the victims were Muslim, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said during a press conference.
“The attack unfolded whilst a man was already receiving first aid from public at the scene and sadly that man has died,” Basu said.
It was too early to say the man’s death was linked to the attack, he added.
The Muslim Council Of Britain said the van hit worshippers helping a man who collapsed outside the Muslim Welfare House, within 600 feet of the Finsbury Park Mosque, after a Ramadan prayer.
“At that moment in time, basically a van swerved into them deliberately,” said the council’s assistant secretary general, Miqdaad Versi, citing witnesses.
Several witnesses at the scene held the driver against his van and on the ground for at least 10 minutes while waiting for police to arrive. One witness told Buzzfeed the driver shouted, “I want to kill all Muslims.” However other witnesses have disputed that report.
Prime Minister Theresa May said the crash was being investigated as a potential terror attack while London Mayor Sadiq Khan later said the crash was a “horrific terrorist attack.”
“We don’t yet know the full details, but this was clearly a deliberate attack on innocent Londoners, many of whom were finishing prayers during the holy month of Ramadan,” Khan said.
“While this appears to be an attack on a particular community, like the terrible attacks in Manchester, Westminster and London Bridge it is also an assault on all our shared values of tolerance, freedom and respect,” the mayor added.
“I’m totally shocked at the incident at Finsbury Park tonight,” Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said in a statement. “I’ve been in touch with the mosques, police and Islington council regarding the incident. My thoughts are with those and the community affected by this awful event.”
So disgusting. Mind you we are in the holy month of Ramadan, which ends June 24.
Acclaimed author J.K. Rowling pointed out the way the media is portraying this killer is much different from other similar attacks. Seems pretty obvious that when the victims are black, brown or Muslim the crime is treated much differently.
