Arrest made, knives found near U.K. Parliament
British police carrying out a counterterrorism investigation swooped in on a man they said was carrying knives in a bag near Britain’s Parliament and arrested him on suspicion of planning terrorist acts.
London’s Metropolitan Police said the 27-year-old man was stopped and detained Thursday “as part of an ongoing operation” by the department’s counterterrorism unit. The department says knives were recovered during the operation.
It said the man was being held at a London police station on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism.
Police said that as a result of the arrest, there is “no immediate known threat” to the public.
A witness to the arrest says that he saw several knives on the ground as the man was being taken into custody.
Chris Kacyk says that he had just arrived to the area when he saw the suspect “standing with his back toward the public and his face against the wall.”
Kacyk says that the man was “tightly cornered by three heavily armed police officers with machine-guns and two undercover detectives.”
He says that he saw several knives – including one very large one – on the ground next to the suspect’s knapsack.
Security has been increased around Parliament after an attacker drove an SUV into pedestrians on nearby Westminster Bridge on March 22, killing four people, before stabbing a police officer to death inside the gates of Parliament.