One person was killed and several injured when a van drove into pedestrians near Finsbury Park Mosque in north London, in the early hours of Monday morning.
The suspected driver of the van, a 48-year-old man, has been arrested. Witnesses told CNN they saw three people exit the vehicle, two of whom fled. Police are treating the incident as a terrorist attack.
Police say one man was pronounced dead at scene. Eight people have been taken to three hospitals.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has promised that extra police will continue to assess security around mosques in the aftermath of the attack. She said,
“This was an attack on Muslims near their place of worship and, like all terrorism in whatever form, it shares the same fundamental goal. It seeks to drive us apart and to break the precious bonds of solidarity and citizenship which we share in this country. We will not let this happen.
This morning we have seen a sickening attempt to destroy those freedoms and to break those bonds of citizenship that define our United Kingdom.
It is a reminder that terrorism, extremism and hatred take many forms and our determination to tackle them must be the same whoever is responsible.“
TMZ tweeted about the incident with a headline that called the mosque in question “Notorious” and White House deputy Press Secretary Sarrah Huckabee tweeted a bizarre,
“Hey liberals! How’s that open borders and extreme gun control working out for you? #LondonAttack #London
So, the spin on this side of the Atlantic has already begun.
London Attack, Vehicle Hits Pedestrians Near Notorious Muslim Mosque https://t.co/lUr6fuWg95
— TMZ (@TMZ) June 19, 2017
(Photo, TMZ; Map via CNN)