fbpx
Search Donate

Show results for
  • News
  • Videos
  • Action Alerts
  • Events
  • Resources
  • MEND

Muslim Londoner attacked by man wielding crowbar in alleged post-Brexit incident

Muslim Londoner attacked by man wielding crowbar in alleged post-Brexit incident

Categories: Latest News

Friday July 01 2016

The London Evening Standard reports on an alleged post-Brexit hate crime incident in the capital relating the experience of a young Muslim male who was attacked by a man brandishing a crowbar.

Adil Jamil, 23, was driving a friend home after leaving a Clapton mosque just after midnight on Wednesday 29 June when the alleged incident happened.

Jamil told the paper he was driving with his friend in the car when a man yielding a crowbar came towards them. A motorcyclist swerved out of his lane to avoid hitting the man as he ran towards Jamil’s car swinging the crowbar. Jamil himself tried to swerve out of the man’s way but his black BMW was hit as the man took aim. The man swung the crowbar smashing the car’s windscreen.

Jamil drove on as the man shouted anti-Muslim abuse. Jamil returned to the scene to find the man had tried attacking other motorists, including a Somali taxi driver.

An off-duty security guard travelling in a car behind Jamil apprehended the man, handcuffing him and holding him face down on the ground until police officers arrived.

Jamil told the Standard, “I was terrified. The whole thing replays in my mind over and over.

“I’m glad nobody was hurt this is the time where everyone comes out of the nearby mosques, there were loads of people around.

“Since Brexit there seems to be a rise in these attacks and people need to look out for each other no matter who it is.”

“I think it’s always a risk but there’s a higher risk of attacks now because a lot of the people who hold racist views believe 52 per cent of the country is with them. Of course that’s wrong.”

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson confirmed officers attending to an incident at 12.45am on Wednesday in response to “reports of a man almost smashing a car window”.

“A man in his mid-40s was arrested for possibly possessing an offensive weapon,” the spokesperson added.

The Standard also reports the comments of London Mayor Sadiq Khan who has urged Londoners to report all incident of hate crime to the police. Revealing that he too has been a victim of racist abuse when young but failed to report it, the London Mayor said: “We as a society can’t allow anyone to suffer in silence. Bernard Hogan-Howe (Metropolitan Police Commissioner), me, the police won’t allow that to happen.

“So please report it, and we will make sure we stamp that out.”
Newsletter

Find out more about MEND, sign up to our email newsletter

Get all the latest news from MEND straight to your inbox. Sign up to our email newsletter for regular updates and events information

reCAPTCHA