Early on Monday morning, as Muslim worshippers were leaving a mosque in North London’s Finsbury Park neighbourhood, a man drove a van through the crowd. One of the Muslims died and 11 remain injured into the Islamophobic attack. According to the local police, the man who died had a previously unrelated condition and they’re investigating whether or not his passing had anything to do with the attack directly.
Nine of the injured needed to be taken to hospital
Nine of the injured survivors of the Finsbury Park attack are being treated in hospital, while the other two had minor injuries that were treated on the scene.
Every victim of the attack was a Muslim worshipper, and therefore, this attack has been declared a terrorist attack on the Muslim religion by authorities.
According to witnesses from the scene, the driver drove his van towards the Finsbury Park mosque yelling, “I want to kill all Muslims!” Some of the witnesses managed to get the driver pinned to the ground before he could cause any further damage. An Imam and some other men have been credited as “heroes” who saved the man’s life.
A suspect of the age of 47 was arrested on suspicion of a terrorist act and attempted murder by police on the scene at Finsbury Park. The man’s family and neighbours later identified him to the media as Darren Osborne, who had previously shown anti-Islamic tendencies.
The government has announced that police and security services knew nothing of this.
Suspect’s relatives are ‘massively shocked’ by attack
Osborne’s friends and relatives have said in a statement that they are “massively shocked” by what he has done to the Muslim worshippers at Finsbury Park. They called his actions “unbelievable,” and something that “hasn’t really sunk in” with them yet.
As for the victims, Osborne’s family are standing by them and not him, saying they are “devastated for the families” and that their “hearts go out to the people who have been injured.”
Last night, a vigil was held by the Finsbury Park community for the victims. Solidarity was shown by not just Muslim leaders, but leaders from a variety of different religions, showing that while some people like Darren Osborne and Salman Abedi want there to be fear and division in our society, a lot of other people want to unite and find peace.
Muslim leaders are shocked and have condemned Osborne’s actions, calling for more security to be provided at mosques as Islamophobia is on the rise in the wake of increased Islamic State terrorist attacks, specifically in the UK.
Cressida Dick, the commissioner of the Metropolitan police service, has pledged to provide extra security for the Muslim community in the wake of the Finsbury Park attack. “People in Muslim communities attending prayers will see their police protecting them in the coming days and nights,” she said in a statement.
Amber Rudd and Sadiq Khan have responded
It hasn’t been a great month for London. First, there was an Islamic State terrorist attack on London Bridge that ended in a knifing spree.
Then, there was a devastating fire that burned down a 24-story flat block, Grenfell Tower. And now, an Islamophobic man has driven a van through a crowd of Muslims at Finsbury Park, which some are saying is now being used as propaganda to recruit more Muslims to the Islamist way of life. It also doesn’t help that white supremacists are celebrating this attack.
Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, and Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, have responded to the attack, calling it an attack on Britain as a whole, not just London or Muslims. Prime Minister Theresa May has called Osborne’s attack “every bit as insidious and destructive to our values and our way of life” as ISIS’ recent attacks. She came to the Finsbury Park mosque for a meeting of various faiths and was yelled at and insulted as she left.
