Don’t touch him! How hero imam saved driver from the angry crowd
THE imam who shielded the alleged Finsbury Park attacker from angry reprisals was hailed a hero yesterday. Mohammed Mahmoud, 30, shouted ‘Don’t touch him’ and protected the terror suspect from punches and kicks.
The van driver was wrestled to the ground by witnesses and allegedly said ‘Kill me’ as some of the crowd began to attack him.
Mr Mahmoud told how he and others from the nearby Muslim Welfare House managed to surround the attacker and shield him. Taking charge, the religious leader shouted: ‘No one touch him – no one! No one.’
He said last night: ‘We managed to extinguish any flames of anger or mob rule. We arrived at the scene within minutes and we found the assailant on the floor. He had been restrained by about three people.
‘A group of people quickly began to collect around the assailant, and some tried to hit him, either kicks or punches.
‘By God’s grace we managed to surround him and protect him from any harm.
‘We stopped all forms of attack and abuse that were coming from every angle.’
Mr Mahmoud said the attacker seemed ‘calm’ but was heard to say: ‘I did my bit.’
Toufik Kacimi, chief executive of the Muslim Welfare House, said: ‘Mohammed was the hero of the day, he was the one who contained the guy and held him up until the police came and took him away.
‘ His bravery and courage helped calm the immediate situation after the incident and prevented further injuries and potential loss of life.’ Mr Kaci- mi’s sister Marian, 23, added: ‘He heard the crash and ran to the scene immediately. He saw a group beating up the suspect, he ordered them to stop and flagged down the police.
‘He is a hero, he brought a wanted man to justice. He is a peaceful, good Muslim. His actions don’t surprise us. He does not want more violence.’
Mr Mahmoud said two people were dragged beneath the van, adding ‘one of whom we are worried may be paralysed for life because he said he could not move his arms and legs and said he could not feel them’.
He condemned it as a ‘ tragic and barbaric terrorist attack’ adding ‘all life is sacred’.
He hoped those who try to demonise the Muslim community for ulterior motives and to divide the country would not win. Speaking to reporters yesterday afternoon, Mr Mahmoud said he had not been the only one urging restraint. ‘It wasn’t me alone, there were a group of brothers,’ he said.
He said he had just finished leading prayers in the mosque when ‘a brother came in, quite panicked, and said that somebody had run over a group of people and tried to kill them’.
He added: ‘We arrived at the scene within minutes and we found the assailant on the floor. He had been restrained by around three people.
‘A police van drove past so we flagged them down and we told them the situation. There’s a man, he’s restrained.
‘He mowed down a group of people and there’s a mob attempting to hurt him. If you don’t take him, God forbid he might be seriously hurt.’ The man was unscathed, he said.
One of the men who held the suspect on the ground, 29-yearold cafe owner Mohammed, said: ‘The imam came from the mosque and he said “Listen, we are fasting, this is Ramadan, we are not supposed to do these kinds of things, so please step back”.
‘For that reason this guy is still alive today. This is the only reason. If the imam was not there, he wouldn’t be there today.’
Sadiq Khan, the Labour Mayor of London, praised Mr Mahmoud’s actions.
‘When things were getting very heated, and we can understand why, Imam Mohammed did a really good job in calming things down and making sure that justice can be done as it should be done via due process, rather than anyone taking the law into their own hands,’ he told Sky News yesterday.
‘This is a good community. They pull together, they work closely with each other and the actions of Imam Mohammed are what I would expect from a good faith leader and a good Muslim leader.’