Finsbury Park Mosque ‘Car Ramming’: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

(Twitter / PostcodeAgent)

Met police have confirmed they are responding to a “serious incident” in North London on Seven Sisters Road outside the Finsbury Park Mosque where a man drove into reported Muslims leaving Ramadan prayers. The incident occurred right after 12:20 a.m. According to the BBC, one person has been arrested and “a number of casualties” have been confirmed.

The incident is not currently confirmed to be deliberate.

Here’s what we know so far:

1. A Video Shows a Man Being Arrested, Allegedly the Driver

A video shared on Twitter shows a man being arrested by police. A name or motive is not yet known. According to one witness, bystanders confronted the driver and held him until the police came.

The van the man used has been described in white.

2. The Incident Is Not Confirmed Terrorism

According to reports, the act is not yet confirmed to be deliberate. One witness told LBC, “It looked like he had lost control of the van or something.” However, the Muslim Council of Britain claims they believe the act was intentional.

Two recent car rammings in New York and Amsterdam were not terrorism-related but due to the negligence of intoxicated drivers. However, Britain has been the subject of multiple terrorist attacks this spring, which has caused MI5 to raise the UK’s threat level to “severe.”

3. The Victims Are Said to Be Mostly Muslims

According to witnesses, the Muslims had been taking part in Ramadan services. Some witnesses claim that the victims were Muslims taking part in Tarawih, extra prayers performed by Sunni Muslims at night during the the month of Ramadan.

The Muslim Council of Britain has said that their “prayers are with the victims.”

4. The Mosque Has Former Terrorism Links

Imam Abu Hamza al-Masri addresses followers during Friday prayer near Finsbury Park Mosque in North London, in this March 2004 file photo. (ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images)

Al Qaeda operatives attended Finsbury Park Mosque in the early 2000s, reports The Independent.

Abu Hamza al-Masri was its former imam and was a preacher of militant Islamism. He was arrested in 2004 and currently is serving a life sentence at an American federal supermax prison in Colorado.

The BBC writes about the mosque, “Finsbury Park Mosque has long been synonymous with the worst fears about Islamist extremism in Britain. The mosque’s new leadership have been struggling to reclaim it for the local community.”

5. ISIS Has Instructed Muslims to Run Over Non-Muslims With Cars

Police and members of the emergency services attend to victims of a terror attack on London Bridge in central London on June 3, 2017. (DANIEL SORABJI/AFP/Getty Images)

In an ISIS magazine article from November 2016, ISIS suggested to jihadists how to carry out a successful attack as a lone wolf operative. In the article, ISIS said that a lone wolf should use a vehicle to plow into a crowd and to carry a secondary weapon.

Soon after, an ISIS-inspired student carried out vehicular attack on Ohio State University. The perpetrator, Somali-born Abdul Razak Ali Artan, also carried a machete. ISIS later claimed the attacked and named Artan as one of their “soldiers.”

A similar attack claimed by ISIS was carried out on July 14, 2016 at a Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France by Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel. Bouhlel is responsible for murdering up to 84 people by ramming into them with a truck and shooting at them.

A similar ISIS attack took place at a Christmas market attack that killed 12 and injured 48 at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin-Charlottenburg, Germany in late 2016.

Most recently, the United Kingdom has been the brunt of foreign Islamic State attacks, with car rammings and suicide bombings rocking multiple locations this spring.

WATCH: Man Arrested After Driving Van Over ‘Muslims’ in North London

A man is shown being arrested near Finsbury Park after his car drove into people, claimed to be Muslims. The incident happened outside a mosque near Seven Sisters Road.

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Heavy Terror Watch monitors ISIS atrocities and propaganda and other terrorist activity worldwide. Send tips and comments to heavyterrorwatch@heavy.com.
June 18, 2017 9:36 pm