AMP Report – March 22, 2019
Fallout of New Zealand mosques attack:
Five mosques vandalized in Birmingham UK
British Police and counterterrorism officials were investigating attacks on five mosques Wednesday (March 20) night, including one in which a man took a sledgehammer to smash the windows of a house of worship in Birmingham, England.
After the authorities received reports overnight of the sledgehammer attack in north Birmingham, a similar episode was reported nearby. Officers discovered damage to two other sites and received a further report later on Thursday morning, all from places of worship within a few miles of each other and in an area with a large Muslim community.
“The motive behind the attacks, which are being treated as linked, is yet to be established, but West Midlands Police and the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit are investigating,” the statement said.
A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police said that officers were called to reports of a man smashing windows with a sledgehammer on Birchfield Road at 02:30 on Thursday.
Officers were then alerted to a similar attack in Erdington about 45 minutes later, with more in Aston and Perry Barr reported. Another on Albert Road was struck at 10:00am. One of the attacks is understood to have taken place at a Muslim girls’ school.
Chief Constable Dave Thompson said: "Since the tragic events in Christchurch, New Zealand, officers and staff from West Midlands Police have been working closely with our faith partners across the region to offer reassurance and support at mosques, churches and places of prayer.
Birmingham is one of Britain’s largest cities and home to one of its biggest Muslim communities: More than one in five people there are Muslims
The attacks came after a massacre at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, during Friday Prayer last week left at least 50 people dead, and the British police said they had been providing reassurance and support at mosques in Birmingham.
On Thursday (March 21), Britain’s home secretary, Sajid Javid, said on Twitter that it was “deeply concerning & distressing to see number of mosques have been vandalized in Birmingham overnight.”
“Let me be clear — hateful behavior has absolutely no place in our society and will never be accepted,” he wrote in the post.
“The Muslim community is fearful of more attacks,” wrote on Twitter Majid Mahmood, a member of the local council in the area where the attacks took place.
A Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) spokesman said: "It is shocking to see how someone has chosen to use a sledgehammer to attack mosques and even a Muslim girls' school. This comes after many Muslim institutions feel vulnerable following the horrific massacre in New Zealand.
“We will be reiterating our messages of vigilance and resilience to mosques up and down the country, and hope police forces and the government not only recognize the level of threat across the country, but work with Muslim groups to help tackle Islamophobia wherever it takes place."
According to Palko Karasz of New York Times, Muslims make up slightly more than 4 percent of the population of the United Kingdom, according to the most recent national census, conducted in 2011. The growing Muslim population has been the subject of an increasing number of hate crimes, according to Home Office statistics.
There were 80,393 such offenses in 2016-17, compared with 62,518 in 2015-16. That increase, 29 percent, was the largest since the Home Office began recording figures in 2011-12.
The episodes have included arson attacks on mosques and schools, and anonymous letters calling for a “Punish a Muslim Day.”
Last year, a jury convicted a man of murder after he drove a van into Muslim worshipers outside a London mosque, killing one person and injuring nine others. The trial of the driver, Darren Osborne, raised questions about the radicalizing influence of far-right groups in Britain.
Muslim worshipper assaulted at East London mosque hours after NZ attack
Alarmingly, a Muslim was attacked with a "hammer" and a "batten" outside an East London mosque, hours after the attack on two mosques in New Zealand.
A group of men shouted Islamophobhic abuses as they drove past the mosque and called the attendees at the Friday prayers "terrorists", witnesses told the Independent newspaper.
One of the three men then climbed out of the vehicle and attacked one of the worshippers. The 27-year-old victim sustained injuries to his head.
In a video filmed by a witness, one of the attackers was seen climbing onto the front of the car in an attempt to get away from the scene.
"The suspects returned to their car and left the scene before police arrived," a spokesperson for London's Metropolitan Police told the Independent, adding that the suspects were all described as white men, believed to be in their 20s.
Following the attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, the United Kingdom police officers stepped up security around mosques on Friday.
"Whilst there is no intelligence linking these appalling events in Christchurch to the UK, additional uniform patrols will continue in London and nationally over the coming days, focusing on places of worship and specific communities," Neil Basu, the national policing lead for counterterrorism, told the Independent.
"We are paying specific attention to mosques, particularly Friday prayers.
"Many communities will be understandably concerned and local officers will be out and about providing reassurance and protective security advice to communities, places of worship and businesses."
In a statement issued after the attack, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the city "stands with the people of Christchurch in the face of this horrific terror attack".
"London will always celebrate the diversity that some seek to destroy ... I want to reassure the Muslim communities in London," he said.
"I have been in touch with the Met Police. There will be highly visible policing around mosques today, as well as armed response officers, as Londoners go to pray."
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