The suspected terrorist in the recent heinous attack against the Muslim community of Finsbury Park, North London, has since been identified as 47-year-old Darren Osborne — a father of four who experienced a recent spike in Islamophobia.
So it’s rather disquieting to know that Osborne was born in Singapore in 1969.
The man is being held on suspicion of instigating terrorism, including murder and attempted murder. At least one person has died and 10 others were left injured after Osborne rented a van to plow into worshippers who were leaving Ramadan prayers near Finsbury Park mosque. After running over several people, the van came to a halt and witnesses dragged him from the vehicle. Telegraph reports that he said, “I want to kill Muslims… you deserve it… I did my bit”. He continued his taunting by waving and blowing kisses to the gathered crowd after he was arrested and loaded into the back of a police van.
The moment the police are taking the man who ploughed pedestrians in #FinsburyPark pic.twitter.com/Yr7mgS1mcz
— Hamza Sharif (@HamzaJourno) June 19, 2017
He was said to have turned against Muslims following the London Bridge attack earlier this month, when three Islamist terrorists drove a van into pedestrians before running out to Borough Market to stab people.
‘He’s always been a complete cunt’
It’s unclear how long Osborne stayed in Singapore, but according to various media reports, his family moved to the west of England in the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, where he grew up.
Osborne then moved to Cardiff in South Wales, where he lives with his partner and kids. The Guardian reports that his long-time neighbors were unsure what he did for work, but they knew him as “aggressive” and “strange”, and often heard him shouting from the other side of the street.
Last Saturday night, he was kicked out from a pub close to his home after he got wasted. “He got chucked out as he was so drunk,” one pub regular said. “He was cursing Muslims and saying he would do some damage.”
Another one of Osborne’s neighbors revealed to Metro that he was not a popular figure in the estate. “He’s always been a complete cunt but this is really surprising,” said the neighbor.
A Muslim neighbor of Osborne told The Guardian that they never faced any issues with him until the weekend. According to the neighbor’s 12-year-old son, Osborne had called him an “inbred” out of nowhere.
So far, the authorities have not found any evidence that Osborne is an active member of any far right organizations. His mother claimed that he was “disturbed” and had been on medication for mental health problems.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May has since pledged extra police resources to protect mosques during Ramadan in the lead up to Eid on Sunday. The attack — currently investigated as an act of terrorism against Muslims — drew condemnation by various political and religious leaders.
