This was but another in a string of jihadis used their vehicles as weapons as instructed by the Islamic State in accordanc with jihadic doctrine:

So O muwahhid, do not let this battle pass you by wherever you may be. You must strike the soldiers, patrons, and troops of the tawaghit. Strike their police, security, and intelligence members, as well as their treacherous agents. Destroy their beds. Embitter their lives for them and busy them with themselves. If you can kill a disbelieving American or European — especially the spiteful and filthy French — or an Australian, or a Canadian, or any other disbeliever from the disbelievers waging war, including the citizens of the countries that entered into a coalition against the Islamic State, then rely upon Allah, and kill him in any manner or way however it may be….If you are not able to find an IED or a bullet, then single out the disbelieving American, Frenchman, or any of their allies. Smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car , or throw him down from a high place, or choke him, or poison him….

Prosecutors claimed crash was terror attack but no extremist material was found at Khater’s home

Lizzie Dearden Security Correspondent, The Independent, July 17, 2019:

A man has been convicted of trying to kill police officers and members of the public by driving into them outside the Houses of Parliament.

Salih Khater ploughed his car into cyclists and pedestrians in Westminster before heading for uniformed police officers on 14 August.

Prosecutors claimed the incident was a terror attack because of the method of attack and its location, but found no extremist material at Khater’s home.

The Old Bailey heard that the 30-year-old refugee drove from Birmingham to London in the early hours of the morning after searching for directions to Downing Street and Westminster as “deliberate targets”.

Khater was caught on CCTV driving around the area and looping around Parliament Square four times before launching the attack at the start of morning rush hour.

The court was played footage of his car ploughing through a group of cyclists waiting at a traffic light, before swerving towards a barrier manned by uniformed police officers at 30mph.

They dived out of the car’s path as it accelerated towards them, while injured cyclists lay scattered in the road screaming in pain. Several needed hospital treatment.

The court heard that as armed police removed Khater from the car, he confirmed he was acting alone but failed to explain himself.

Alison Morgan QC accused Khater of carrying out a “premeditated and deliberate attack on civilians and police officers in Parliament Square”.

She added: “His weapon was not a gun or a knife but his car. His actions were not a mistake or as a result of some kind of mechanical error to his vehicle.

“They were deliberate and designed to cause maximum death and injury.”

Ms Morgan said Mr Khater’s motives were unclear and “nothing of significance” was found at his home.



s=”caption”>The aftermath of a car ramming by Salih Khater outside the Houses of Parliament on 14 August 2018 (Metropolitan Police)

But she told the jury that there was “no credible explanation” for the crash other than it being a “calculated and targeted attack”.

“The defendant selected an iconic site – this was no coincidence,” Ms Morgan said.

“It is a location of national importance and one that had been subjected to terrorist attacks in very recent history.”