Eyewitnesses describe "smiling" van driver who shouted "I want to kill all Muslims"

Record ID: 896100

  • Title: Eyewitnesses describe "smiling" van driver who shouted "I want to kill all Muslims"
  • Date: 19th June 2017
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JUNE 19, 2017) (REUTERS) VAN USED IN THE RAMMING (SOUNDBITE) (English) EYEWITNESS, ABDUL ABDULLAH, SAYING: "Yeah I saw the man himself. He looked indifferent. He looked like he didn't really, like no sign of sorrow on his face. He didn't really care what happened. (REPORTER ASKING QUESTION) "By then is when the people put him in the van right and they closed the door and you can see him through the mirror. He's just standing there. A lot of people are saying, the ones that came before me, he was smiling, he was blowing kisses. I asked them what do you mean? They said right after they held him down and they put him in until the police had come, he was being detained by the police, he was doing a lot of bizarre things." VAN USED IN RAMMING
  • Embargoed: 3rd July 2017 12:39
  • Keywords: London attack Finsbury Park mosque terror
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA0026LY2AMF
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Eyewitnesses on Monday (June 19) described the man suspected of ramming a van into Muslim worshippers as they left their prayers at a mosque in north London.
    Ten people were injured in what police said was a deliberate attack on Muslims that was being treated as a terrorist incident.
    Shortly after midnight, the hired vehicle swerved into a group of people leaving prayers at the Muslim Welfare House and the nearby Finsbury Park Mosque in north London, one of the biggest in the country, witnesses said.
    One eyewitness, Khalid, said the van driver shouted he wanted to kill all Muslims.
    "He was shouting where are all Muslims, I wanna kill all Muslims. Literally he said that, word by word. He said it like this," said Khalid.
    The man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and will be questioned by counter-terrorism officers.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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