«I think at least eight or 10 people got injured. Luckily I managed to escape. And then the guy came out of his van and I got him.

«He was screaming, he was saying, ‘I’m going to kill all Muslims, I’m going to kill all Muslims’. He was throwing punches.

«Then we managed to get him on the floor. Then he was saying, ‘Kill me, kill me’. I said, ‘We are not going to kill you. Why did you do that?’ He wouldn’t say anything.»

Salah Alamoudi said eight people were hit.

He said they had to hold the suspect on the ground for up to half an hour before police arrived.

«The guy, I had to keep him at least half an hour. He was a strong guy. A big man,» he said.

«It was heartbreaking. It wasn’t an accident.»

Der meldes om en ophedet stemning i Nord-London, hvor moskeen ligger. Stemningen var allerede spændt på grund af Grenfell Tower-branden. Og nu sker dette.

Statsminister Theresa May udtrykte den største medfølelse og sympati med ofrene. Mens hun har været ved magten, har London oplevet tre terrorangreb på tre måneder. Nå kom hævnangrebet. Der er risiko for, at situationen eskalerer.

Muslimske mænd i bøn efter at varevognen påkørte fodgængere nær moskeen i Finsbury Park i det nordlige London. REUTERS/Neil Hall TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Det er ramadan og de religiøse følelser er stærke.

Manden slog til lidt over midnat. Den første nyhedsmelding kom lidt over kl. 0100.

Finsbury moské har i årevis været kendt som et arnested for radikalisering. Ikke minsdt den enøjede imam med sørøverkloen, Abu Hamza al-Masri, blev et symbol på islamisk radikalisering. Efter årelang kamp blev han udleveret til USA. Moskeen fik ny ledelse, som er mere moderat.

Finsbury Park Mosque has undergone wholesale changes under new leader Mohammed Kozbar, since the days when hook-handed Abu Hamza was imam there from 1997 until 2003.

Mr Kozbar told The Sun: ‘Whoever did this, he did it to hurt people and it’s a terrorist attack. We call it a terrorist attack as we called it in Manchester, Westminster and London Bridge.’

He added he heard there had been fatalities but did not want to ‘jump to conclusions.’

Flere vidner sagde, at der var tre mænd i bilen, men politiet vil ikke bekræfte det. Der blev også meldt om knivstikkeri et andet sted i byen, men dette bliver også dementeret af politiet. De udsendte en meddelelse efter tre timer:

At this stage there are no reports of any persons having suffered any knife injuries. The driver of the van – a man aged 48 – was found detained by members of public at the scene and then arrested by police in connection with the incident. He has been taken to hospital as a precaution, and will be taken into custody once discharged. He will also be subject of a mental health assessment in due course.

 Politiet dementerer også, at der var flere om angrebet.

The statement said no other suspects at the scene have been identified or reported to police. “Due to the nature of this incident extra policing resources have been deployed in order to reassure communities, especially those observing Ramadan,” it said.

Muslim Council of Britain lægger ansvaret på islamofobien i Storbritannien:

Harun Khan, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain said:

During the night, ordinary British citizens were set upon while they were going about their lives, completing their night worship. My prayers are with the victims and their families. It appears from eye witness accounts that the perpetrator was motivated by Islamophobia.

Over the past weeks and months, Muslims have endured many incidents of Islamophobia, and this is the most violent manifestation to date.
Given we are approaching the end of the month of Ramadan and the celebration of Eid with many Muslims going to local mosques, we expect the authorities to increase security outside mosques as a matter of urgency.
Muslim communities have been calling for increased action to tackle the growth in hate crime for many years and transformative action must now be taken to tackle not only this incident but the hugely worrying growth in Islamophobia.
Many will feel terrorised, no doubt be angry and saddened by what has taken place tonight. We urge calm as the investigation establishes the full facts, and in these last days of Ramadan, pray for those affected and for justice.”

Politiet vil foreløbig ikke kalde det et terrorangreb, men det synes at være en teknikalitet.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2017/jun/19/north-london-van-incident-finsbury-park-casualties-collides-pedestrians-live-updates