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Tommy Robinson arrives at car crash scene to declare a 'jihadi incident' before police rule out terror attack

EDL founder's comments turn out to be wrong

Sunday 08 October 2017 12:56 BST
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Tommy Robinson declares traffic accident a jihadi attack

English Defence League (EDL) founder Tommy Robinson arrived at the scene where a car mounted the pavement outside London’s Natural History Museum injuring several pedestrians, declaring it a “jihadi attack” before police had made a formal statement which said it was a "road traffic incident".

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was seen standing by the police cordon being filmed discussing the incident.

When approached by The Independent to discuss his motives, Lennon declared the incident a “jihadi terror attack” despite no formal recognition of this being the case by the authorities.

A police officer intervened during the discussion and confirmed that authorities had not confirmed if it was a terror incident at the time of the discussion.

Subsequently police said it was a road traffic accident and not terror-related.

The Metropolitan Police put out a statement which said: “The man detained by officers is currently under arrest and is in custody at a north London police station.

“The incident is a road traffic investigation and not a terrorist related incident.”

Police were called at 2.41pm to reports of the collision in Exhibition Road in South Kensington just outside the museum at one of the busiest tourist hotspots in the capital.

Eleven people were injured in the collision although none of their injuries are believed to be life threatening or life changing.

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