Terrorist fooled everyone
‘Normal’ family man charmed his neighbours
THE terrorist who mowed down dozens of people in the shadow of Parliament House on Thursday was an English teacher who grew up in Kent in South East London.
Khalid Masood, 52, had a wife and three children and was described as a family man who wore a smile alongside his traditional black Islamic garments.
One neighbour told The Telegraph in the UK: “It’s left me so scared and I don’t know what to tell the children. He seemed like a normal, calm and kind family man, always with a smile on his face.”
On the surface he appeared to be an innocent and loving father who was most recently living in the West Midlands in central England, but in reality he had a proclivity for violence.
A significant criminal history shows convictions for assaults as severe as grievous bodily harm and multiple weapons offences.
His first conviction was in November 1983 for criminal damage and his last was in December 2003 for possession of a knife.
Police were also aware of several aliases he had used over the years, including Khalid Choudry.
At one stage he was even being monitored by MI5 for
his extremist views, but eventually the investigation was dropped.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May said Masood’s intelligence probe was “historic” and he was no longer on any watchlist at the time of the attack.
“Some years ago he was investigated by MI5 in relation to concerns about violent extremism – he was a peripheral figure,” Ms May said in a speech to the House of Commons.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack
and described Masood as a “soldier”.
“The attacker yesterday in front of the British parliament in London was a soldier of the Islamic State, executing the operation in response to calls to target citizens of coalition nations,” an IS statement said.
With intelligence services working non-stop to secure London, a series of raids led to eight arrests at six different properties in Birmingham, London and Wales.
Six people were held in custody. Police believe
Masood is connected to those in custody and he is said to have lived with more than one of the suspects.
Following a terrifying trend from France and Germany, Masood’s weapon of choice was simply a vehicle. He hired the car in Birmingham earlier that day.
Within hours he had mowed down dozens of pedestrians at high speed on Westminster Bridge, killing two before stabbing a policeman to death. A 75-year-old man died of his injuries in hospital yesterday.
Police have not yet revealed whether the eight arrests point to an underground terror cell.
The names of three of Masood’s four victims have been released. They were Keith Palmer, 48, the unarmed police officer who was fatally stabbed at an entrance to parliament; British national and mother-of-two Aysha Frade, 43; and Kurt Cochran, 52, from Utah in the US. MORE ONLINE Check 7 for updates