John Swinney has said victims of the allegedly anti-Muslim knife attacks in Edinburgh last week have been deeply traumatised by their experiences.
Scotland’s first minister spoke to some of the five men injured in the series of attacks that appeared to target Muslims and people of colour around the city on Friday evening, with four taken to hospital.
Speaking to the PA news agency after a visit to Broomhouse mosque, near where the attacks are thought to have started, Swinney said he had come with a message of solidarity, sympathy and empathy for those affected.
“I have spoken to some of the young men who were injured as a consequence of this act on Friday evening. They are not only physically injured but they are deeply traumatised by the attack,” he said.
“I’m here to express the solidarity of the Scottish government and the political leadership of Scotland with the community who will be traumatised,” he said. The incident could have “enormous consequences for cohesion within our community”.
The suspect in the attacks, which allegedly involved assaults on worshippers leaving Broomhouse mosque, taxi drivers, passersby and bicycle couriers, was was scheduled to appear in Edinburgh sheriff court in private on Monday.
Police with stun guns arrested a white Scottish man aged 38 and bare chested on Leith Walk at aabout 9.30pm on Friday night after reports of a series of incidents at at least six locations involving someone wielding bladed weapons.
Two men were stabbed as they left Broomhouse mosque in the south-west of the city at around 8.30pm, and a taxi was vandalised at a petrol station on Telford Road near Crewe Toll in the north-west about 45 minutes later, where an axe and shattered glass on a seat were photographed.
At about 9.28pm, shelves were reportedly overturned at a shop at the eastern end of Ferry Road in Leith, and at about 9.30pm three people were hurt on Leith Walk, where a man was filmed attacking a pizza take-away before being arrested. An eyewitness told the Guardian a bicycle courier was attacked with a bladed weapon and a minicab had its window smashed.
The five injured men were aged between 22 and 39. The suspect is alleged to have shouted that he was trying to protect his country as he was arrested.
Owais Ahmed, a member of Broomhouse mosque’s management team, said on Saturday: “There is a sense of anxiety and uncertainty in some aspects but people are resilient, and people are looking at it as objectively as they possibly can.”
Omar Afzal, the director of public affairs with the Scottish Association of Mosques, said anti-Muslim hatred had become normalised in the UK, leading to a “profound sense of shock, alarm and anger within Muslim communities” across Edinburgh and Scotland.
Swinney said he had grown up near Broomhouse and used to play football there: “This was always a very welcoming, inclusive community, a community that was brought together, so it’s heartbreaking to experience what we’re experiencing now.”
Friday’s incidents reinforced the importance of encouraging people to “understand and appreciate the strength that comes from diversity” from a young age, he said.
Supt Neil Wilson of Police Scotland said officers had spoken to more than 90 faith-based organisations and community leaders in Edinburgh and other parts of of the country since Friday, and had also visited local businesses in the areas affected.
He said Scottish counter-terrorism officers were continuing to assess the evidence, but that there was no evidence of a wider threat.
“We are carrying out a community impact assessment and will closely monitor the situation to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all communities, and we are prepared to respond promptly to any emerging issues,” he said.
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