TerrorismMan arrested in London for “terrorist offenses” after crashing car near Parliament

The London police have arrested a man on suspicion of “terrorist offenses” after he crashed a car into security barriers outside Britain’s Parliament, injuring several pedestrians.

London’s Metropolitan police said that they are treating the car crash as a terrorist attack, and that the Met’s Counter-Terrorism Command was leading the investigation.

“The male driver of the car was detained by officers at the scene,” the Metropolitan Police said on Twitter on August 14.

At 0737hrs today, a car was in collision with barriers outside the Houses of Parliament. The male driver of the car was detained by officers at the scene. A number of pedestrians have been injured. Officers remain at the scene. We will issue further info when we have it.

— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) August 14, 2018

A black man in jeans and a puffa jacket was seen being held by about a dozen officers as emergency services rushed to the scene and police put in place a “terrorism act cordon” around Parliament Square, extending down Whitehall.

Police said no weapons were recovered at the scene of the crash in the Westminster area.

They said the crash appeared to be a “deliberate act” and that the arrested suspect was not cooperating with investigators.

At least two people who were struck by the vehicle were being treated at a hospital, but police said none of the injured were in a “life-threatening condition.”

At this stage, officers do not believe that anybody is in a life-threatening condition. Cordons are in place to assist the investigation. Westminster tube station is closed.

— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) August 14, 2018

The Times reports that witnesses said the driver appeared to intentionally drive the car at a high speed toward the steel-and-concrete security barriers that surround the British Parliament.

They said he hit at least one pedestrian before turning onto the wrong side of the road and hitting several cyclists at a busy intersection outside Parliament, and then accelerating into the barrier.

The security barriers were extended after the Westminster Bridge attack in March 2017, when Khalid Masood drove a car at a high speed into crowds on Westminster Bridge and then crashed into a gate outside Parliament, killing four people.

Neil Basu, the national head of counterterrorism policing, told the Times that the incident appeared to be a “deliberate act” and that the suspect was not co-operating with detectives. He said that the suspect had not been formally identified but was not thought to be known to MI5 or the counterterrorism policing network. Asked if the driver targeted police officers he said: “We can’t say that. It certainly appears to be a deliberate act but what the motivation is we can’t say. “

Basu dismissed rumors that police vehicles were following the driver when he crashed into cyclists and pedestrians. “There wasn’t a police car in pursuit of the vehicle. I believe it was an ambulance in a completely unrelated call,” he said.

He said that there was no intelligence of a wider danger to the public.