It’s unusual for the British police to make such a forthright acknowledgment this early in this case. It would have been more in character if they had already described the driver as “mentally ill.”
The Islamic State issued this call in September 2014:
So O muwahhid, do not let this battle pass you by wherever you may be. You must strike the soldiers, patrons, and troops of the tawaghit. Strike their police, security, and intelligence members, as well as their treacherous agents. Destroy their beds. Embitter their lives for them and busy them with themselves. If you can kill a disbelieving American or European — especially the spiteful and filthy French — or an Australian, or a Canadian, or any other disbeliever from the disbelievers waging war, including the citizens of the countries that entered into a coalition against the Islamic State, then rely upon Allah, and kill him in any manner or way however it may be….If you are not able to find an IED or a bullet, then single out the disbelieving American, Frenchman, or any of their allies. Smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car, or throw him down from a high place, or choke him, or poison him….
This is the horrifying moment a Ford Fiesta swerved to hit at least ten cyclists and pedestrians at up to 50mph before narrowly missing two police officers as it ploughed into barriers outside the Houses of Parliament today.
The terror suspect, a black man in his late twenties now refusing to co-operative with police, was pulled from the smoking silver Ford Fiesta by around a dozen armed officers who had their rifles trained on him.
A ‘loud bang’ followed by screams echoed around Parliament Square at 7.30am this morning and CCTV uncovered by the BBC shows the car swerve the wrong way down the road and ‘intentionally’ veer through crowds before smashing into a security barrier.
Two uniformed police officers manning the checkpoint designed to withstand a high speed lorry attack are shown diving away and detectives are investigating if they were the true targets of the suspected terror attack.
Three people were injured and one female cyclist is being treated for serious but not life-threatening injuries, which MailOnline understands is a broken hip.
Geoffrey Woodman, 27, from Battersea, heard a ‘loud screech’ and told MailOnline: ‘It [the Ford Fiesta] cut out in front of us through the red light on the wrong side of the road. It swerved left and hit the lady two bikes to my left. Its windscreen hit her quite hard. One slight turn of the wheel and it would have taken me out. It was chaos’.
A suspected terrorist arrested at gunpoint after ploughing a car into pedestrians near parliament is refusing to talk to police as detectives try to identify him, the Met’s terror chief said today.
Neil Basu, the Met’s Assistant Commissioner Specialist Operations, said the man, in his 20s, is ‘not currently cooperating’ after his arrest shortly after 7.30am.
A woman remains in hospital in a serious but stable condition after the suspected attacker drove a silver Ford Fiesta into cyclists before crashing into security barrier.
Police are treating the incident as a ‘deliberate’ terrorist incident.
It is not yet known whether the suspected attacker was on the radar of security services….
Mr Basu added: ‘This appears to be a deliberate act, the method and this iconic site, we’re treating it as a terrorist incident.
‘Officers are searching the vehicle but no other weapons have been found at this time.’
He said no other suspects were identified or reported, adding: ‘There’s no intelligence at this time of further danger to Londoners or the rest of the U.K.’
He said: ‘The priority is to formally establish the ID and his motives. He is not currently cooperating.’…
Scotland Yard said the crash is being treated as a ‘terrorist incident’ and counter-terror chief Neil Basu said the suspect was not known to police or MI5.
Mr Basu also said that he appears to have been working alone and there is ‘no intelligence at this time of further danger’ to Londoners following the Westminster car attack.
He said: ‘It appears to be a deliberate act. We are treating it as a terrorist incident. The man is in his late 20s and he’s been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences and has been taken to a South London police station where he remains in custody.
‘Our priority now is to formally establish the identity of the suspect and establish his motivation if we can. He is not currently co-operating’
Parliament is closed today but most MPs are away because it is during the summer recess, and a huge ‘Terror cordon’ stretching nearly a mile around Parliament Square is in place.
Today’s crash came 17 months after Khalid Masood drove into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge – killing five – before stabbing to death PC Keith Palmer at the gates of Parliament….
David McMahon says
I knew Europe was overdue for a terrorist attack. No “mentally disturbed lone wolf” description this time? Somebody is not following the script, the left won’t like it.
Rest assured Mayor Khan is on the job & right onto this matter I’m sure.
simpleton1 says
No “mentally disturbed lone wolf” Yeah right.
Recognizing it as terror, so the police are trying to regain some credibility, but it will be the number of witnesses and camera footage, that they knew they could not hide or spin away.
So it is “terror” and the guy is arrested.
So how long do we have to wait for religion? temple? church? 🙂
How long do we have to wait for ethnicity and life back ground?
At this stage the suspect is not known to police or MI5 and is uncooperative.
Are they planning to wrap him later with a “mentally disturbed lone wolf” as some pastor? or is it rabbi? confirms some major difficult family life history.
Now they can hold back information, claiming it is necessary for a fair trial.
Well we must wait to see if it pans out that it is a “known wolf” ? and what “devious prophet”, so called “perfect man” did guide those terror principles ‘manuscripted’ for his followers? and found in the book sworn on by the “Home Secretary” of Britain and the Mayor of London.
Stephen says
He is clearly North African – Libyan or Somali or Sudanese – from the tone of his skin. Some joker on LBC triumphantly described him as black after a witness called him mediterranean or Asian – presumably unaware of the invasion of North Africa and hoping to divert attention away from the true motive. Probably a “refugee”.
Renate says
At this late date the Brits have finally decided to call it what it is. They know everyone is thinking “terrorism” regardless of how they try to spin it.
Michael Copeland says
Motive?
They have already said this is a terrorist attack.
The motive is obvious.
It is that free-floating terror that “extremists” use. Remember the “War on Terror” ?
Probably Amish, or Catalan separatist.
Gary says
“All part and parcel of living in a major city.”……Now move along….Nothing to see here.
Sons of Liberty says
Exactly , Gary ! In the United States ,….they would probably say he lost control of his car while in a hurry to get to work . Except most refugees , asylum seekers, illegals are on some form of welfare… as much as 60-70% by many studies. Multiculturalism at work !
overman says
‘The priority is to formally establish the ID and his motives’
Here we go again. Motive unknown even though ‘Mr Basu added: ‘This appears to be a deliberate act, the method and this iconic site, we’re treating it as a terrorist incident’ lol.
They really need to start calling it by it’s correct title – ‘JIHADIST’ rather than ‘TERRORIST’.
Paul says
“Motives”? Please let us know if you find any of these mysterious
‘motives’ they always talk about after something like this. The police
will be on it right now. Hopefully, forensics will come up with something.
Sandy says
The IRA once declared war on the British and wanted reunification of Ireland. When they carried out terrorist attacks, the police spent no time looking for motive as it was clear from their statements, activities and modus operandi. PC Plod, check the Koran and Islamic State incitements and methods recommended – oh damn, that does not fit the “Religion of Peace” narrative.
Paul says
Yes, the Irish separatists were held to a much higher standard
of accountability. When Mohammedans want to slaughter us –
as per their unholy scripture – it must always somehow be
society’s fault as a whole and something WE must have done
wrong (i.e. just living).
overman says
l still can’t post properly. My first post didn’t show up immediately.
b.a. freeman says
on occasion, i have to refresh the page to make the post show up; other times, i have to restart the browser. more recently, however, my posts don’t show up for hours or days. not sure what’s going on, but after i noticed somebody else mentioning problems posting, i quit re-posting.
gravenimage says
There have been technical problems with Jihad Watch since it was down for most of the day the Saturday before last. Many of the problems have been fixed; some are still an issue.
Westman says
Would the police readily classifying the attack as a “terrorist incident” have anything to do with the fact that police were the target? Usually they say, “unknown motive”, “mentally ill”, “Asian(sometimes)”.
For this incident it’s “black”, “terrorist”, and “unknown motive”. Guess which one never changes?
It makes one wonder when the jhadi is finally in court , is asked why he did it, and goes off in an Islamic screed about filthy kafirs and the supremacy of Islam, if the judge says, “he’s mentally ill, record the motive as unknown”
overman says
‘Would the police readily classifying the attack as a “terrorist incident” have anything to do with the fact that police were the target’
Yeah, l was wondering what that was about.
D Austin says
‘Our priority now is to formally establish the identity of the suspect and establish his motivation if we can. He is not currently co-operating’
They don’t need his identity to prosecute him as a John Doe, toss him in prison, and throw away the key.
overman says
l wonder when they’ll start blaming Boris as the ‘motive’.
gravenimage says
I would not be surprised.
Stephen Goldspink says
Mentally ill? The media did try that actually, together with “incompetent driver without license”, “fell asleep at the wheel”, “hit the accelerator instead of the brake”, “drunk”, “drugged”, “road rage” – anything to avoid the truth
No Muzzies Here says
Calling it terror changes nothing, as long as the UK refuses to solve the problem that they have created. They will still jail people who say that something needs to be done about the millions of Muslims on British soil.
Wellington says
The new normal. Have Islam in your midst? Well then, you will have terrorism. Guaranteed.
Wretched religion. Wretched too are Western non-Muslim authorities who remain willfully ignorant of Islam and keep bringing in more followers of the worst religion of all time, all the while continuing to make pathetic excuses for Mo’s creed.
gravenimage says
All grimly true. This should not be “normal” for anyone.
Tama says
And the news was like “British man” “stabs an unarmed police officer”.
Greg says
Check out the person police arrested. He certainly ain’t from Wales!
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/08/14/car-crashes-barrier-outside-parliament-armed-police-surround/#update-20180814-1154
gravenimage says
Video from UK shows car “intentionally mowing down at least 10 cyclists at 50mph,” cops say it’s terrorism
………………….
These poor people. How much more of this savagery do we have to put up with?
Laura says
His name is Salih Khateh and he’s a Sudanese immigrant, he is NOT from Birmingham.