CCTV shows moments leading up to arrest in anti-Muslim attacks probe

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. CCTV shows moments leading up to arrest in anti-Muslim attacks probe36 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleMary McCoolBBC ScotlandBBCCCTV shows a man being arrested eight minutes after he arrived in Leith WalkThe has obtained CCTV footage showing the moments leading up to the arrest of a man, following a number of suspected anti-Muslim attacks across Edinburgh. A topless man can be seen in the footage driving erratically before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider, while smoking and wielding two large knives. Police said five people in total were hurt in attacks at various locations across Edinburgh on Friday night and that counter-terrorism police had joined the probe.

Two of the injured men had attended prayer at Broomhouse mosque about half an hour before they were attacked. Man charged after suspected anti-Muslim attacks in EdinburghThe footage shows a man apparently holding knives, pursuing a black man who has just got off a tram The CCTV footage seen by the shows a man swerving a dark car onto Leith Walk and straddling the vehicle across a cycle lane. The man gets out of his car, topless, and runs towards a man on an e-bike before disappearing out of shot.

The Details

He returns to his car and gets inside briefly, before emerging and running towards a black man who has stepped off a tram. The footage shows the topless man, with a cigarette in his mouth, repeatedly striking at the black man with two large knives in his hand. The black man runs away and the bare-chested man gives up the chase, returning to batter the door of a pizzeria on Leith Walk while members of the public run away.

Minutes later, the man runs onto Leith Walk and attacks a delivery driver on an e-bike, who falls off his vehicle. Police arrive on scene shortly afterwards and detain the man about five minutes after he first pulled up in the street. Mobile phone footage shows a man attacking a pizzeria on Leith Walk Stabbing after prayerPolice said a total of five people were injured, four of them needing hospital treatment in a series of incidents that began at Broomhouse Mosque in the west of the city.

The force said none of the injuries sustained were believed to be life-threatening. Two of the injured men were aged 22, and others were aged 24, 27 and 39. The 22-year-olds were sitting in Sighthill Park, near the mosque after the Asr prayers at about 20:00, when they were approached by a man.

What Experts Say

They were taken to hospital and discharged on Saturday, having been stabbed multiple times. One man, who is well-connected to Muslim communities in the west of Edinburgh, told the his "heart dropped" when he heard the men were members of a congregation. "It doesn't make sense that this is actually happening," he said.

"You know how Edinburgh is, a very good community. I never thought that's a thing that would happen here.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.