UK parliament attacker appears in court to face attempted murder charges
The man who attacked people with his car before ramming into a barrier outside the British parliament last week has appeared in court to face charges of attempted murder.
Salih Khater, a Sudanese-born British citizen from Birmingham, was in London’s Westminster Magistrates court on Monday while wearing a grey T-shirt and white trousers.
He was read two charges of the attempted murder of members of the public and the attempted murder of police officers.
Judge Emma Arbuthnot said the suspect would appear in front of the Old Bailey on August 31. There was no bail application and the suspect would remain in custody, said the judge.
Khater, 29, who only spoke during the court hearing to confirm his name, date of birth, nationality and address, was arrested last Tuesday after he drove into pedestrians and cyclists and hit a security barrier outside the parliament. Police believe his act, which left three people injured, was deliberate and the case should be treated as terrorism due to the method, location and alleged targets.
However, authorities are still attempting to find the motive behind the incident. Khater has been unknown to police or intelligence services while his neighbors in Birmingham have rejected the idea that he could have been radicalized by terrorist groups.
“It appears to have been a deliberate act, but what the motive was we can’t answer at the moment,” read a statement from Neil Basu, who serves as the Assistant Commissioner for counter-terrorism in London’s police force.
The attack, if proven to be of terrorism nature, would be the second to target the parliament building in less than 18 months. Four people were killed in an attack in March 2017 on nearby Westminster Bridge.
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