YouAintNoMuslimBruv became Britain’s top trending Twitter hashtag after video emerged of a passer-by shouting the scornful remark at a knife-wielding man in a London Underground station.
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But the words “You ain’t no Muslim bruv” yelled by an onlooker during an horrific stabbing attack in an East London tube station perfectly sum up a city’s courage in the face of terror.
The incident comes just days after Parliament approved British airstrikes on Islamic State group targets in Syria.
The Leytonstone incident will draw parallels with the May 2013 murder of British army soldier Lee Rigby, who was hacked to death just south of the Thames River by two Muslim converts.
The UK is now on its second-highest terror alert level of “severe”, meaning an attack is considered highly likely, principally because of perceived threats from IS militants in Syria and Iraq.
It was the spontaneous putdown of the knife attacker that captured public feeling about the assault in Leytonstone underground station: “You ain’t no Muslim bruv”. “I was walking down into the station, as I got to the ticket office there was a pool of blood on the floor and a guy with a knife going mad”.
Eyewitnesses claimed they could hear “this is for Syria” and “all of your blood will be spilled” during the terrifying attack.
“Then the attacker started kicking him on the floor”. He then took his knife out and was using it on the victim’s body.
Police were today searching an east London property in connection with the incident, while the suspect remained in custody and was being questioned by police. Police said that initial reports indicated that the man had also threatened other bystanders.
He then allegedly walked back over to the stricken man, pulled out his knife and stabbed him in a sawing motion, Mr Patel said.
The victim, 56, is recovering with serious but not life threatening injuries, while two other passengers sustained minor cuts and lacerations. Witness Khayam told the BBC that when the suspect was taken to a police van, “I saw pedestrians shouting at him… one pedestrian tried to throw a bottle”.
Authorities subdued the attacker with a stun gun at the scene and arrested him. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks, and said the San Bernardino killers were “supporters”.
The attacker beat one man unconscious before hacking at his neck in what terrified witnesses feared was an attempt to behead him.
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In 2005, suicide bombers attacked three Underground trains and a double-decker bus in a coordinated strike that left 52 people dead and more than 770 wounded. “It is alarming. We still rely on the first people on the scene having to deal with a situation, whoever they are, whether a uniform officer or firearms officer”.
