An Uber driver who allegedly attacked police officers with a sword outside Buckingham Palace whilst shouting “Allahu Akbar” has appeared in court charged with terror offences.
Mohiussunnath Choudhury, 26, “deliberately” drove a car at police outside the royal palace before reaching for the 4ft weapon when approached by unarmed officers on the evening of Friday, August 25th.
According to reports, he “repeatedly” shouted “Allahu Akbar” (Arabic for ‘my god is greatest’) during the attack.
The man, from Luton, was charged with engaging in the preparation to commit an act or acts of terrorism on Constitution Hill in central London on the night of the attack.
He appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday afternoon and was remanded in custody, Sky News reports.
Another man, 30, who was arrested and questioned by counter-terrorism police in connection with the same incident faces no further action.
“I would like to pay tribute to the bravery and professionalism of these officers who quickly brought this incident under control,” Commander Dean Haydon, head of Counter-Terrorism Command at the Met, commented at the beginning of the week.
“Their vigilance, courage and the swiftness of their response demonstrates how our officers are protecting the public at this time.
“Officers from the Counter-Terrorism Command are now investigating and searches are being carried out in the Luton area today.
“We believe the man was acting alone and we are not looking for other suspects at this stage. While we cannot speculate on what the man was intending to do — this will be determined during the course of the investigation — it is only right that we investigate this as a terrorist incident at this time.
“This is a timely reminder that the threat from terrorism in the UK remains severe.”
The attack took place on the same night that a man with a machete attacked soldiers on the streets of Brussels in a terror attack later claimed by the Islamic State group.