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Scottish authorities said connected Saturday (June 20, 2026) they charged a antheral successful transportation with attacks successful Edinburgh that wounded 5 people, with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying the fishy "appears to beryllium motivated by anti-Muslim hatred".
Police Scotland said officers had arrested a 36-year-old achromatic Scottish antheral and determination was "no further menace to the public".
"A 36-year-old antheral has been charged successful transportation with a fig of incidents which took spot successful Edinburgh connected Friday, 19 June, 2026," constabulary said precocious Saturday (June 20, 2026).
"A study has been submitted to the Procurator Fiscal, and the idiosyncratic volition look astatine tribunal successful owed course."
Footage posted online showed a bare-chested man, believed to beryllium the suspect, roaming streets of the Scottish superior with a ample weapon.
A constabulary connection said they received aggregate exigency calls precocious Friday (June 19, 2026) from radical reporting "violent attacks including threats, robbery and vandalism crossed Edinburgh, with 5 men injured".
The victims, 2 aged 22, and others aged 24, 27, and 39, sustained assorted injuries, constabulary said. Three were taken to infirmary with non-life-threatening injuries, the connection said, adding the incidental is being investigated by the counter-terrorism portion and different constabulary officers.
Politicians successful London and Scotland condemned the incidents.
"Absolutely appalling," Mr. Starmer said connected X. "The fishy appears to beryllium motivated by anti-Muslim hatred. I volition not tolerate this — helium volition look the afloat unit of the law."
Scotland's First Minister John Swinney said helium was "deeply concerned", successful a station connected X. "There is nary spot for violence, racism oregon intolerance successful our country," helium added.
'Should interest everyone'
Both the Scottish Association of Mosques and the anti-Islamophobia non-profit Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) said respective of the victims were Muslims.
MEND noted the alleged footage of the arrested antheral circulating online besides showed him shouting astir "protecting the country" from Muslims, accompanied by expletive-filled language.
The organisation urged constabulary to "treat this arsenic what the grounds indicates: Islamophobic, far-right terror".
The mosques relation noted: "In caller days we person seen calls for anti-migrant protests circulating online, alongside progressively assertive rhetoric directed astatine number communities.
"These developments should interest everyone, careless of religion oregon background."
The incidental comes arsenic migration and diverseness successful the U.K. instrumentality the spotlight, with claims that far-right agitators are fuelling racist sentiment, aft a fig of reported high-profile incidents successful the region.
The Northern Irish capital, Belfast, experienced 2 nights of upset past week aft a weapon attack, allegedly perpetrated by a Sudanese refugee, was captured connected camera and went viral online.
There were besides convulsive skirmishes betwixt protesters and constabulary the erstwhile week successful Southampton, successful confederate England, implicit the handling of the execution of young achromatic pupil Henry Nowak by a British Sikh man.
Detailing Friday (June 19, 2026) night's incidents, Police Scotland said 2 men were initially injured successful a westbound Edinburgh suburb and taken to hospital.
The BBC said it understood the attacks began adjacent a mosque.
Three different men were subsequently attacked elsewhere, suffering antithetic injuries, earlier officers confronted and arrested the suspect, constabulary said.
