Authorities identify terror suspect in London crash
British authorities have identified the driver in Tuesday’s car crash in London, who has been charged with an act of terrorism and attempted murder.
On Wednesday, the London police announced that they had identified the suspect as Salih Khater, according to The New York Times. The 29-year-old Birmingham resident immigrated to to the U.K. from Sudan in 2010.
{mosads}The trustee of the Birmingham Central Mosque, of which Khater was a member, said that those who knew him thought he “had been trying to get a visa from the Sudanese Embassy to go back to Sudan.”
A man who identified himself as Khater’s brother told BBC that the family was in a “state of shock.”
Khater allegedly crashed a silver Ford Fiesta into cyclists and pedestrians before hitting a concrete barrier outside the Houses of Parliament during rush hour Tuesday morning. He injured three people, but none of the injuries were life-threatening.
“The priority of the investigation team continues to be to understand the motivation behind this incident,” the London Police said in a statement.
Authorities said Tuesday that they would deal with Khater’s actions as terrorism, given their seemingly deliberate nature, as well as the location and method Khater employed.
The area around Parliament is often very busy. That, along with its political importance, makes it a target for terrorist activity.
Another Birmingham resident, Khalid Massod, drove through pedestrians in the same area in 2017, killing five and injuring more than 50.
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