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Everything we know about the Finsbury Park mosque attack. UPDATE: suspect named

A van ploughed into worshippers leaving a London mosque on Monday, injuring several in what Britain’s largest Muslim organisation said was a deliberate act of Islamophobia. One man, who was already being given first aid at the scene before the vehicle was driven into pedestrians, has died but police said it was not clear whether his death was directly linked. Eight others are in hospital, with two in a very serious condition.

UPDATE: The Press Association reports that Osborne’s sister said she was very sorry for what happened.

UPDATE: U.S. President Donald Trump is receiving regular updates on an attack near a London mosque from his senior advisers, who are in contact with their British counterparts, the White House said on Monday.

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“We’ve made it very clear to our British allies that we stand ready to provide any support and assistance that they may need,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters at a briefing.

The president did not tweet about the incident, as he did after previous attacks but his daughter Ivanka condemned the attack.

UPDATE: Neighbours say that they did not have any troubles with Osborne until last weekend. According to the Guardian, the 47-year-old attacker had racially abused the son of one of his neighbours.

While some neighbours say that Osborn was friendly in general, others report that they have seen him on several occasions shouting at this wife and children.

UPDATE: According to British media, the Finsbury attacker is Darren Osborne. His neighbours recognized his picture in the news. He lives in Cardiff area, a zone presently searched by the police.

UPDATE: The man responsible for the attack has been detained on terrorism charges, according to Scotland Yard.

“A 47-year-old man was arrested for attempted murder and taken to a south London police station where he remains in custody. He has further been arrested for the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism including murder and attempted murder,” the police statement reads.

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The Police also confirms that searches are underway in Cardiff, at a residential address, related to the Finsburry attack.

“At this stage in the investigation, it is believed that the suspect acted alone but we are of course investigating all the circumstances leading up to the attack. There were no reports of any people having suffered knife injuries,” the statement says.

UPDATE: Vigil organised in London following the Finsbury attack.

UPDATE: The Guardian reports that a mosque in East London was evacuated after a bomb scare.

UPDATE: Mayor of London visits community to offer his support.

“This attack targeted innocent Londoners returning from Ramadan prayers. Now more than ever we must come together in solidarity. These attacks are an assault on our shared values of tolerance, freedom and respect. Londoners will see more officers in their communities, particularly at and around mosques and places of worship, as Londoners observe Ramadan,” the Mayor said in his post. “This is an extremely difficult time for our city, but I urge all Londoners to remain calm and vigilant. I know our city will stay strong and we will never be divided,” he concluded.

UPDATE: Imam Mohammed, talking to Sky News, recounted how he protected the attacker from the crowd, after the attack. He told reporters that people started to gather around the attacker as he was pinned down by citizens on the street.

UPDATE: Met Commissioner Cressida Dick said that the Finsbury incident was clearly an attack on Muslims. She also promised extra protection for the community.

“We are here as you are well aware because of the terrible, terrible attack that took place last night. We have a number of people in hospital whose lives are turned upside down. We have one person who has died and as you are aware a man has been arrested,” she told reporters. “This was quite clearly an attack on Muslims who looked like they were probably Muslims and they were coming from a prayer meeting. We treat this as a terrorist attack and we in the Met are as shocked as anybody in this local community or across the country at what has happened.

“We take all forms of hate crime and violent extremism incredibly seriously and wherever we possibly can we will seek to prevent attacks and if we cannot prevent an attack then we will seek obviously to bring people to justice, the Commissioner added in her statement.

UPDATE: The UK Security Minister, Ben Wallace, said that the man arrested for the attack was not previously known to authorities in terms of extremism.

“This man was not known to the authorities in the space of extremism or far-right extremism,” Wallace, junior minister for security in the Home Office, or interior ministry, told Sky News.

UPDATE: Jeremy Corbyn arrives at Finsbury mosque.

UPDATE: According to NHS England, one victim of the attack was discharged form the hospital while seven are still under medical care. The latest statement did not give any details regarding the condition of any of the victims.

UPDATE: Theresa May’s statement following the Finsbury attack.

“This morning, our country woke to news of another terrorist attack on the streets of our capital city: the second this month and every bit as sickening as those which have come before. It was an attack that once again targeted the ordinary and the innocent going about their daily lives – this time British Muslims as they left a mosque having broken their fast and prayed together at this sacred time of year. Today we come together – as we have done before – to condemn this act and to state once again that hatred and evil of this kind will never succeed,” May said.

The Prime Minister also highlighted that officers were in the immediate vicinity as the attack unfolded and they responded within one minute. The police declared it a terrorist incident within 8 minutes.

May confirmed that one man was pronounced dead at the scene; 8 injured were taken to 3 separate hospitals; while 2 were treated at the scene for more minor injuries.

She commended the public for detaining the driver of the van, a white man aged 48, arrested by the police. According to May, police believe that the attacker acted alone.

“Our thoughts and prayers this morning are with the family and friends of the man who died and those who were injured. On behalf of the people of London – and the whole country – I want to thank the police and the emergency services once again for responding as they always do with great professionalism and courage,” May added.

“Extra police resources have already been deployed to reassure communities, and the police will continue to assess the security needs of Mosques and provide any additional resources needed, especially during this final week before Eid Al-Fitr, a particularly important time for the whole Muslim community. This was an attack on Muslims near their place of worship. And like all terrorism, in whatever form, it shares the same fundamental goal.” the Prime Minister also said.

UPDATE: Prime Minister Theresa May visits mosque in North London, near the site of the Finsbury attack and talks with religious leaders.

UPDATE: Mayor Sadiq Khan said in a TV interview that extra police will be deployed in London following the Finsbury attack.

UPDATE: Jeremy Corbyn arrived at Finsbury Park and flanked by other religious leaders supported the call for unity in face of adversity.

Crobyn previously released a statement offering his condolences and calling the attack “an act of terror.”

UPDATE: According to the latest information coming form London Ambulance, eight people were taken to the hospital following the attack.

60 medics and ambulance crews were dispatched on site and people were examined in a dedicated special operation center. The first medics arrived on site 14 minutes after the emergency call was made. An advance trauma team form London Air Ambulance was also sent to the site of the attack.

UPDATE: The van company whose car was involved in the incident released a statement, according to British media.

The company stated that it was “shocked” and “saddened” by the incident and that it is cooperating fully with the Metropolitan police to help with the investigation.

UPDATE: London Underground staff have responded to the Finsbury Park terror attack by leaving a message of unity.

People are also leaving messages of solidarity.

UPDATE: The Guardian published images that show the attacker waving to the crowds as he was detained by police officers.

UPDATE: British Prime Minister Theresa May said hatred and evil would never succeed after a van ploughed into worshippers near a London mosque in a deliberate attack on Muslims as they left prayers at mosques in north London on Monday.

“This morning, our country woke to news of another terrorist attack on the streets of our capital city: the second this month and every bit as sickening as those which have come before,” she said outside her Downing Street office.

“It was an attack that once again targeted the ordinary and the innocent going about their daily lives, this time British Muslims as they left a mosque after prayers.”

She said extra police resources would be deployed to provide reassurance and said Britain had been far too tolerant of all forms of extremism in the past.

UPDATE: Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, the Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism, said the incident is being treated as a terrorist attack.

“No matter what the motivation proves to be, and we are keeping an open mind, this is being treated as a terrorist attack and the Counter Terrorism Command is investigating. This was an attack on London and all Londoners and we should all stand together against extremists whatever their cause,” Basu said.

UPDATE: Witnesses told Sky television that the van had hit at least 10 people. The Evening Standard newspaper said the van appeared to have been rented in Wales, although there was no immediate confirmation of this from the authorities.

UPDATE: London mayor says attack near mosque is an assault on shared values

“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,” he said in a statement.

Khan said there would be extra police to reassure communities, especially those observing Ramadan.

The Muslim Council of Britain said the vehicle hit people as they were leaving the Finsbury Park Mosque, one of the biggest in the country. The attack comes during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when people attend prayers at night.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said police had confirmed it was being treated as a potential terrorist attack and said she would chair an emergency response meeting later on Monday.

Police said one man was pronounced dead at the scene and that the van driver, 48, had been detained by members of the public before being arrested. The driver would undergo a mental health assessment in due course, police said.

The London Ambulance Service said it had taken eight people to hospital, while two were treated at the scene.

Prime Minister May said her thoughts were with those injured in “this terrible incident”. The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, said he was “totally shocked”.

The Muslim Council said the incident was the most violent manifestation of Islamophobia in Britain in recent months and called for extra security at places of worship as the end of Ramadan nears.

“It appears that a white man in a van intentionally ploughed into a group of worshippers who were already tending to someone who had been taken ill,” the council said in a statement.

Police said they were called just after 12:20 a.m. (2320 GMT Sunday) to reports of a collision on Seven Sisters Road, which runs through the Finsbury Park area of north London.

“From the window, I started hearing a lot of yelling and screeching, a lot of chaos outside. … Everybody was shouting: ‘A van’s hit people, a van’s hit people’,” one woman who lives opposite the scene told the BBC.

“There was this white van stopped outside Finsbury Park mosque that seemed to have hit people who were coming out after prayers had finished.”

The incident comes just over two weeks after three Islamist militants drove into pedestrians on London Bridge and stabbed people at nearby restaurants and bars, killing eight. .

It also comes at a time of political turmoil, as Prime Minister May plunges into divorce talks with the European Union weakened by the loss of her parliamentary majority in a June 8 election.

She has faced heavy criticism for her response to a fire in a London tower block on Wednesday which killed at least 58 people, and for her record on security after a series of attacks blamed on Islamist militants in recent months.

One witness told CNN it was clear that the attacker at Finsbury Park had deliberately targeted Muslims.

“He tried to kill a lot of people so obviously it’s a terrorist attack. He targeted Muslims this time,” the witness, identified only as Rayan, said.

Other witnesses told Sky television that the van had hit at least 10 people.

‘DELIBERATELY SWERVED’

Miqdaad Versi, assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said the van had deliberately swerved into a group of people who were helping a man who was ill and had fallen to the ground.

“Basically, a van swerved into them deliberately,” Versi told Reuters, citing a witness.

He said the driver had run out of the van but a group of people caught him and held him until police arrived.

Britain has been hit by a series of attacks in recent months, including the van-and-knife attack on London Bridge on June 3.

On March 22, a man drove a rented car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in London and stabbed a policeman to death before being shot dead. His attack killed five people.

On May 22, a suicide bomber killed 22 people at a concert by American pop singer Ariana Grande in Manchester in northern England.

The attacks were a factor in campaigning ahead of the June 8 election, with Prime Minister May criticised for overseeing a drop of 20,000 in the number of police officers in England and Wales as interior minister from 2010 to 2016.

She was also criticised for keeping her distance from angry residents during her visit to the charred remains of the 24-storey Grenfell Tower.

She said on Saturday the response to the fire, in which at least 58 people were killed on Wednesday, had been “not good enough”.

The Finsbury Park Mosque gained notoriety more than a decade ago for sermons by radical cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, who was sentenced to life in a U.S. prison in January 2015 for his conviction on terrorism-related charges.

A new board of trustees and management took over in February 2005, a year after Abu Hamza was arrested by British police, since when attendance has greatly increased among worshippers from various communities, according to the mosque’s website.

Reuters

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