A young Muslim was assaulted by a crowbar-wielding man shouting Islamophobic abuse in an attack he feels was linked to EU referendum, the London Evening Standard reports.
Adil Jamil, 23, was attacked in his BMW in Leyton, east London, by a stranger just after midnight last Wednesday as he drove his friend back from a mosque in Clapton.
The white man, aged in his 40s, attacked him with a metal pole, smashing his windscreen.
He drove off before the man then allegedly tried to attack a Somalian taxi driver, whilst shouting Islamophobic abuse about Muslims.
An off-duty security guard, who had been in a car behind Mr Jamil, tackled the man, handcuffing him, and pinning him face down on the floor until police arrived.
Mr Jamil told the Standard the man seemed in a “relaxed manner” before he peered into his car.
He said: “He looked at my face and for a split second I saw his eyes light up. He started to run straight at me.
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“He was coming towards me brandishing this metal pole in the air in front of him, I knew I was in trouble.
“I didn’t have time to think. I turned to my friend said “He’s got a weapon”, I didn’t know what to do.”
A motorbike coming from behind managed to swerve into the other lane and avoid the on-rushing man.
Mr Jamil swerved his car into the other lane to follow the motorcyclist but the attacker swung the weapon smashing the front windscreen, shattering the glass.
Mr Jamil drove off before returning to the scene to learn he had been hurling racist abuse and trying to attack other drivers before he was arrested.
He said: “I was terrified. The whole thing replays in my mind over and over.
“I’m glad nobody was hurt this is the time where everyone comes out of the nearby mosques, there were loads of people around.
“Since Brexit there seems to be a rise in these attacks and people need to look out for each other no matter who it is.”
He added: “There is always a chance incidents like this can rise after the Brexit vote because of the way the people tried to portray certain parts of the community.
“I think it’s always a risk but there’s a higher risk of attacks now because a lot of the people who hold racist views believe 52 per cent of the country is with them. Of course that’s wrong.”
A Met spokesman said: “We were called to Church Road at 12.45am on Wednesday morning to reports of a man almost smashing a car window.
“A man in his mid-40s was arrested for possibly possessing an offensive weapon.”
