2017 Buckingham Palace incident

On 25 August 2017, three police officers arrested a 26-year-old man in possession of a 4-foot long samurai sword inside a car near Buckingham Palace. The man had stopped his car after driving it towards a police vehicle. The police officers were slightly injured whilst making the arrest.

Incident

Three police officers received minor injuries while attempting to arrest a 26-year-old man in possession of a sword, who was in his car outside Buckingham Palace in central London. He struggled with the arresting officers, injuring two officers who were treated for their injuries at hospital and soon discharged. The accused man also suffered injuries, he is alleged to have stopped his Toyota Prius in front of a police van after driving at or towards it. The suspect reached for his sword while seated inside when officers challenged him. He reportedly shouted "Allahu akbar" (Arabic for "God is greatest") and was quickly subdued by police.

The suspect, an Uber driver, is reported to have intended to attack Windsor Castle, but when he keyed it in, his satnav app directed him to a pub named "The Windsor Castle," and he decided to attack Buckingham Palace instead.

Writers at publications including The Times and the London Review of Books have used the detail AbOUT how this Uber driver and would-be jihadist intended to attack Windsor Castle, but was guided by his satnav to The Windsor Castle pub, and ended up attacking Buckingham Palace instead, in discussions - sometimes humorous - about satnav and about Uber.

Legal proceedings

The suspect was held in custody and on 31 August 2017 was charged at Westminster Magistrates' Court with "engaging in conduct in preparation for giving effect to his intention to commit an act or acts of [...]". He appeared at the Old Bailey on 21 September 2017 for a preliminary hearing relating to the same offence, the trial is expected to take place early in 2018. He is being held at Belmarsh prison.

Police investigation

The incident is being investigated under the [...] Act. The investigation was conducted by SO15, Scotland Yard's counter-[...] command. Police said that the incident was being treated as [...] but that they would remain open minded while the investigation continued, also that they were looking into the suspect’s mental-health history.

The suspect lived with his family in Luton, he reportedly left a note for his sister, telling her that he would be in heaven by the time she read it. He was also reported as having left a document on his computer in which he wrote, "Tell everyone that I love them and that they should struggle against the enemies of Allah with their lives and their property,... The queen and her soldiers will all be in the hellfire.” According to the Wall Street Journal, the suspect conducted numerous searches on the Islamic State in the two months preceding the incident, and had searched for material showing ISIS supporters celebrating the 2017 Westminster attack.

Suspect

The suspect, Mohiussunnath Choudhury, a 26-year-old British Bangladeshi immigrant, was born in Bangladesh but holds British citizenship.

The suspect lived with his parents and sister in Luton and attended St. Lawrence Primary School and Uxbridge High School, London.

Context

Europe has been on high alert following a series of attacks since 2014, and three terror attacks in London and one in Manchester since March 2017: the Westminster attack in March, the London Bridge attack and 2017 Finsbury Park attack a few weeks later, and the May Ariana Grande concert bombing in Manchester.. The incident took place on the same day as an attack in Brussels.

A nationwide survey conducted by the Police Federation of England and Wales in the wake of several recent [...] attacks discovered that 55% of officers are now willing to carry a gun on duty if so requested, an increase of over 10% compared with the previous survey in 2006, and that over a third of officers now support the carrying of guns on routine patrol duty, compared with 23% in 2006. However the greatest support among officers surveyed was not for guns to be issued routinely, but rather for more police to be trained to use firearms so that they could use them when needed.

Reaction

Prime Minister Theresa May stated the police acted "quickly and bravely to protect the public."

See also

• List of [...] incidents in August 2017