Witnesses to the alleged knife attacks on Muslims and others in Edinburgh on Friday have described seeing a taxi and an Uber bike courier being targeted in Leith.
The attacks, suspected of being directed against Muslims and people of colour, began near a mosque in the west of Edinburgh, followed by incidents on Leith Walk in the east of the city.
Late on Saturday night, police confirmed a 38-year-old white Scottish man had been charged in connection with a number of incidents, and that five men aged between 22 and 39 had been injured, four of whom were taken to hospital for treatment.
Police Scotland said its counter-terrorism unit was involved in the investigation, which also included alleged threats, robbery and vandalism, but it had not yet declared it a terrorist incident.
On Sunday afternoon, about 100 local people, including several MSPs, councillors and activists from the Living Rent tenants’ union and Scottish Green party, gathered on Leith Walk close to the location for a hastily arranged rally.
Nat Gorodnitski, a climate campaigner who co-organised the demonstration, said it was intended to prove the attack was an aberration. “My hope is whoever is living in the area, who’s afraid to leave their homes or feels unsafe, this will say ‘you’re safe, you belong here’.”
Hasan Eren, the owner of Best Kebab House on Leith Walk, said he and his colleagues were in the Victoria bar close to the site of the alleged attacks on the street at about 9.30pm on Friday evening. Many local people were gathering to watch Scotland’s World Cup fixture against Morocco.
Footage on social media appeared to show a bare-chested white man brandishing a bladed instrument kicking and hitting the door of Origano pizza takeaway as pedestrians scattered, leading to staff bringing its remotely operated shutters down.
Eren recalled seeing the assailant allegedly attacking a minicab, kicking at it before apparently throwing a metal object and smashing one of the cab’s windows, terrifying a passenger, after appearing to chase pedestrians with a weapon.
The attacker then allegedly assaulted an Uber cycle courier with some form of bladed weapon, hitting him several times. Eren said he and other witnesses were shouting at the alleged assailant, urging him to stop and leave the cyclist alone.
Eren, originally from north London, said he had run Best Kebab House for 20 years and had never witnessed this level of violence in the area. “I love Leith, man,” he said. “I have come across lots of fights, but nothing like that.”
The alleged assailant was detained by police carrying stun guns; Eren said that as the police arrived the suspect allegedly threw the blade away, dropped to the ground and put his hands behind his head before laying down on the road, and did not resist arrest.
Footage on social media appeared to record him shouting he was “protecting the country”.
Another local man, Kenny, 53, who declined to give his full name, said he saw the police restraining the suspect on the road. “Everyone is a bit befuddled by it,” he said. “It’s a very nicely integrated community. There’s the problem with drugs – going back to the 80s – but they’re mostly harmless … it’s very multinational. People from all sorts of countries and backgrounds around here.”
Ava, 22, who works in Origano’s sister restaurant nearby and is originally from Leeds, said: “As a woman of colour, it’s scary seeing the way hatred has been whipped up. Everything that has been happening in Belfast and Southport, the level of comfortability that these people have expressing rightwing and horrendous racist views.”
Police Scotland said it received initial reports of two men being injured in the Sighthill area near Broomhouse mosque, both of whom were taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Three men were then injured in Telford Road at Crewe Toll, also in the west of the city, and then on Leith Walk.
Footage from west Edinburgh also showed another minicab allegedly attacked during the incident. A further incident was reported at Craigleith in northern Edinburgh, where a driver allegedly hit a food courier on their bike, before chasing them with a large blade.
John Swinney will meet members of Edinburgh’s Muslim community on Monday. “There is no place for race-based or faith-based violence in Scotland,” the first minister said on Sunday. “My thoughts are with all who have been impacted – the victims but also the communities who are understandably [made] anxious by what happened.”
Swinney said people must “stand united in utter condemnation” of the “heinous” attacks. He said allegations of anti-Muslim hatred were “abhorrent”, adding: “We must not allow recent attempts to stoke fear to divide us.
“Everyone who lives in Scotland – those that were born here and those that have decided to make Scotland their home – epitomise Scotland’s values of hope, tolerance and solidarity. These are values that must be cherished, nurtured and protected. We must all come together to ensure that.
“I want to reassure communities that my government will lead from the front in tackling all forms of violence, division and prejudice.”
Ben Macpherson, the Scottish National party MSP for Edinburgh North Eastern and Leith, said: “What happened on Friday was really shocking and our thoughts are with the people who were hurt [but] Leith is a place of pluralism and different nationalities, ethnicities, religions, we’re not going to let this situation disrupt that or distract from that.”
Kate Nevens, a Scottish Greens MSP for Edinburgh and Lothians East, said: “I love this neighbourhood, it has so much love and generosity of spirit. Obviously this is a horrible thing to have happened anywhere, but it does really feel like it’s hitting at the heart of Edinburgh.”
