What drove Darren Osborne to commit the London anti-Muslim terrorist attack?
By
Richard Tyler
29 June 2017
In the early hours of June 19, a man with no apparent history of racism deliberately ran over a group of Muslim worshipers who had just left the Finsbury Park Mosque in London.
The attack left one person, Makram Ali, dead of multiple injuries. Eleven others were injured. The perpetrator, who was identified as 47-year-old Cardiff resident Darren Osborne, was charged last Friday at Westminster Magistrates Court with terror-related murder and attempted murder.
On Tuesday, Osborne appeared at London’s Old Bailey court by video link from Belmarsh prison. In a short hearing he confirmed only his name. Osborne will next appear at the Old Bailey on July 20 for a preliminary hearing.
The Westminster Magistrates Court heard that Osborne was motivated by “extreme political views and a personal hatred of Muslims” when he carried out the “deliberate and premeditated attack.”
During the murderous assault, Osborne shouted, “I’m going to kill all Muslims—I did my bit.” He was quickly apprehended by people marking Ramadan at the Finsbury Park mosque before being bundled into a police van, where he continued to goad the crowd.
According to accounts, this outburst of murderous Islamophobia could not have been anticipated. Based on the information that has emerged so far, this is a man who had led a troubled and chaotic life, someone apparently prone to violence, but who, until very recently, was not known to hold racist or anti-Muslim views.
His neighbour of five years, Saleem Naema, told the press, “I just can’t believe that he did that. If I ever needed anything, he would come.”
Another neighbour, Khadijeh Sherizi, said, “He has been so normal. He lives next…