Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

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Crazedwraith
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Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

Post by Crazedwraith »

The BBC wrote:A man has died and 10 people have been injured after a man drove a van into worshippers near a north London mosque.

The van struck people after mounting the pavement just after midnight BST outside Muslim Welfare House, near Finsbury Park Mosque. A 48-year-old man has been arrested.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said police were treating it as a "terrorist incident".

Eyewitness Abdul Rahman said the driver said he wanted to "kill all Muslims".

Mr Rahman told the BBC he struck the man and helped subdue him.

"When the guy came out from his van he wanted to escape, run away and he was saying 'I want to kill Muslims. 'I want to kill Muslims.'

"I hit him on his stomach... and then me and the other guys... we held him to the ground until he couldn't move. We stopped him until the police came."

Counter-terrorism officers are at the scene, the Metropolitan Police said.

And extra police are being deployed to reassure communities, especially those observing Ramadan, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said.

He also said his "thoughts and prayers" were with those affected by the "horrific terrorist attack on innocent people".

"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."

Metropolitan Police's deputy assistant commissioner Neil Basu said the attack began when the van was driven into a man who was already being given first aid by the public on the pavement.

"Sadly that man has died. It is too early to state if his death was a result of this attack."

All the victims were Muslim and there are currently no-other suspects, he added.

The 48-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

'Justice for victims'

Harun Khan, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain said: "Over the past weeks and months, Muslims have endured many incidents of Islamophobia, and this is the most violent manifestation to date.

"We expect the authorities to increase security outside mosques as a matter of urgency."

Many of the victims are believed to have just left evening prayers at the Muslim Welfare House after breaking the Ramadan fast.

It has appealed for calm, adding that "all of our efforts should be towards getting justice for the victims and ensuring our community stays the diverse, tolerant and welcome place we know it to be".

The prime minister will chair a meeting of the emergency Cobra committee later.

Mrs May described it as a "terrible incident", adding: "All my thoughts are with those who have been injured, their loved ones and the emergency services on the scene."

If confirmed as a terror attack it would be the fourth such incident in the UK in four months, after attacks in Westminster, Manchester and on London Bridge.

The van driver was arrested after being detained by members of the public at the scene following the collision at 00:20 BST.

Police said there were no reports of anyone suffering from knife injuries after speculation at the scene the driver was armed with a knife.

Abdulrahman Saleh Alamoudi said he was among a group of people helping an elderly worshipper who had fallen down when the van swerved towards them.

Video posted online of the aftermath showed a scene of chaos as people tried to help the injured.

One man could be seen giving CPR to a victim in the street while another man's head injury was treated with a makeshift dressing.

An eyewitness told how he jumped out the way of the van as it struck.

He said: "He just came into all of us. There was a lot of people. We got told to move straight away.

"I was shocked, shocked, shocked. There were bodies around me.

"Thank God I just moved to the side. I just jumped. Everyone is hurt. Everyone is actually hurt."

Another who lives in a flat on Seven Sisters Road told the BBC she saw people "shouting and screaming".

"Everyone was shouting 'a van's hit people'.

"There was this white van stopped outside Finsbury Park Mosque that seems to have hit people who were coming out of the mosque after prayers finished."

She said the road was "backed up" with police cars, ambulance and fire engines.

Corbyn 'shocked'

Some witnesses at the scene - near Finsbury Park Station and Arsenal's Emirates stadium - said more than one attacker may have been involved.

But the Met said: "At this early stage of this investigation, no other suspects at the scene have been identified or reported to police, however the investigation continues."

Mrs Rudd described it as an appalling incident, and said new funding for security at religious sites had recently been arranged.

"We have a places of worship fund which we announced last summer, which is there to protect places of worship like mosques. We will make sure that we do all we can to reduce these sort of attacks."

Environment Secretary Michael Gove said the attack was a "disgusting and immoral act".

"Words fail me that someone could find it in their heart to behave in this way."

Labour leader and Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn said on Twitter: "I'm totally shocked at the incident at Finsbury Park tonight.

"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."

Mr Corbyn also said he would be attending prayers at Finsbury Park Mosque later on Monday with Islington Council Leader Richard Watts.

Labour's shadow home secretary and Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP Diane Abbott said on Twitter that police "must urgently review security for all mosques".

Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas said she was thinking of the community and emergency services, adding: "We will not be divided."

Witness Cynthia Vanzella said on Twitter: "Horrible to watch police officers doing cardiac massage at people on the floor, desperately trying to save them. I just hope they did."

The MCB said its "prayers are with the victims".
Another terrible event to add to the list at the moment but it's good that's been treated as a terrorist attack.
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LadyTevar
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

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Yeah... I was wondering when someone would decide to 'punish the muslims' for the actions of a few.

What makes someone think that the answer to a senseless killing is killing more people? Especially when the people you're killing had NOTHING to do with the first murders?
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

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LadyTevar wrote:What makes someone think that the answer to a senseless killing is killing more people? Especially when the people you're killing had NOTHING to do with the first murders?
For the same reason that after any terrorist attack, people want to lob missiles at or invade someone. It helps them feel better in a moment of helplessness. How many people wanted the Middle East to be turned to rubble in September 2001?
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

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Rather amusingly, I saw the coverage on CNN earlier. They were talking with local witnesses. As a young man started to blame "media like you" for stoking Islamaphobia, the mic cut out, and they lost the feed. When they got it back a few seconds later, the subject had changed. :P
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

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Islamophobia is something that will likely be increasingly common as people start to buy into the whole "clash of civilisation" belief. We're probably going to see more lone-wolf kind of attacks.
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

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Gandalf wrote:Rather amusingly, I saw the coverage on CNN earlier. They were talking with local witnesses. As a young man started to blame "media like you" for stoking Islamaphobia, the mic cut out, and they lost the feed. When they got it back a few seconds later, the subject had changed. :P
Can't say I am surprised. Western media or the establishment media or whatever you want to call it, for a long time has plumbed the depths of bullshit and then some more.
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

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Remember though ya'll, 'push hard against Islamists. Maybe with a van.' Fucking wanker.
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

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Alkaloid wrote:Remember though ya'll, 'push hard against Islamists. Maybe with a van.' Fucking wanker.
Oh yes. Because an attack like this clearly means we must shut up about islamic terrorist.
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

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I havent watched much media coverage yet. I wonder if they are gonna label this as a terrorist incident even though this was done against muslims.
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

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Mlenk wrote:I havent watched much media coverage yet. I wonder if they are gonna label this as a terrorist incident even though this was done against muslims.
They already label this as a terrorist attack.
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

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Gandalf wrote:Rather amusingly, I saw the coverage on CNN earlier. They were talking with local witnesses. As a young man started to blame "media like you" for stoking Islamaphobia, the mic cut out, and they lost the feed. When they got it back a few seconds later, the subject had changed. :P
I think we need to be having serious looks at the liberty of hate preachers like Katie Hopkins, radicalising the emotionally vulnerable to strike at our society.
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

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ray245 wrote:
Alkaloid wrote:Remember though ya'll, 'push hard against Islamists. Maybe with a van.' Fucking wanker.
Oh yes. Because an attack like this clearly means we must shut up about islamic terrorist.
Vendetta wrote:
Gandalf wrote:Rather amusingly, I saw the coverage on CNN earlier. They were talking with local witnesses. As a young man started to blame "media like you" for stoking Islamaphobia, the mic cut out, and they lost the feed. When they got it back a few seconds later, the subject had changed. :P
I think we need to be having serious looks at the liberty of hate preachers like Katie Hopkins, radicalising the emotionally vulnerable to strike at our society.
I like the juxtaposition of these two posts; they go well together.

I mean, what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander; if we're going to treat the radical fringe of Islamic thought as an internal threat to our society, we can treat the radical fringe of anti-Islamic thought the same way.
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ray245
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

Post by ray245 »

Simon_Jester wrote:
I mean, what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander; if we're going to treat the radical fringe of Islamic thought as an internal threat to our society, we can treat the radical fringe of anti-Islamic thought the same way.
I don't see any problem with that. The question is whether people are capable of seeing the fringe terrorists apart from the rest of society.
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

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It may be easier for Western people to "be capable of that" when talking about a bunch of brown people who dress funny than when they're talking about a talking head on the seven o'clock news...
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

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ray245 wrote:
Mlenk wrote:I havent watched much media coverage yet. I wonder if they are gonna label this as a terrorist incident even though this was done against muslims.
They already label this as a terrorist attack.
Last I heard, the Mayor of London referred to it as such. No idea what the British government is calling it. But yeah, this is terrorism, obviously.
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

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The Romulan Republic wrote:Last I heard, the Mayor of London referred to it as such. No idea what the British government is calling it. But yeah, this is terrorism, obviously.
As mentioned in the third paragraph of the OP article quote the UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd has said it was a terrorist act. It's also littered throughout the article and it even mentioned that the Counter-terrorism police are taking the lead.

In addition later in the same day the PM came out and called it a terrorist attack.
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

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Good to know. I'm glad to see that they're being consistent in their application of the term.
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

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ray245 wrote:
Mlenk wrote:I havent watched much media coverage yet. I wonder if they are gonna label this as a terrorist incident even though this was done against muslims.
They already label this as a terrorist attack.
Suspected terrorist attack. While it looks likely that this is, indeed, a terrorist attack, the police haven't properly investigated this yet. A nitpick, I know, but I thought it's worth mentioning.

Anyway, this is interesting: apparently the imam of the mosque prevented the attacker from being hurt by an angry mob after the attack: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/im ... 67841.html
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

Post by The Romulan Republic »

Wow. This story is like, the reverse of everything Right wing extremists think about the issue of Muslims and terror.
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

Post by ray245 »

The Romulan Republic wrote:Wow. This story is like, the reverse of everything Right wing extremists think about the issue of Muslims and terror.
To add to that. This terrorist is also foreign-born, apparently from Singapore.
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

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Finsbury Park attack: Community's shock at man's arrest
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-40343432

Finsbury Park attack: What we know so far
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40323769
Say what you want about Wales and the south of England but I am pretty sure Cardiff or Weston-super-mare are not in Singapore.
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

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Kinyo wrote:
Finsbury Park attack: Community's shock at man's arrest
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-40343432

Finsbury Park attack: What we know so far
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40323769
Say what you want about Wales and the south of England but I am pretty sure Cardiff or Weston-super-mare are not in Singapore.
Born in Singapore, grew up in Wales.
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

Post by Crazedwraith »

ray245 wrote:
Kinyo wrote:
Finsbury Park attack: Community's shock at man's arrest
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-40343432

Finsbury Park attack: What we know so far
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40323769
Say what you want about Wales and the south of England but I am pretty sure Cardiff or Weston-super-mare are not in Singapore.
Born in Singapore, grew up in Wales.
Be helpful to source things like this Ray:

The Guardian Does mention this in an article.

Not sure what difference it makes though or what point you are trying to make by pointing it out.
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Re: Van Hits Mosque Crowd In London

Post by ray245 »

Crazedwraith wrote:
Be helpful to source things like this Ray:

The Guardian Does mention this in an article.

Not sure what difference it makes though or what point you are trying to make by pointing it out.
Nothing much other than it's ironic to hear the far-right often talks about deporting Muslims based on the perception that they are all foreign-born, only to have a foreign-born far-right terrorist trying to murder British-born Muslims.
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