Taxi and Uber rider targeted in suspected anti-Muslim attacks in Edinburgh, say witnesses

About 100 local people gathered on Leith Walk on Sunday for a rally intended to prove the attack was an aberration. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian View image in fullscreen About 100 local people gathered on Leith Walk on Sunday for a rally intended to prove the attack was an aberration. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian Taxi and Uber rider targeted in suspected anti-Muslim attacks in Edinburgh, say witnesses White Scottish man, 38, charged after five men were injured in spate of attacks in city on Friday night 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. View image in fullscreen An anti-racist rally was held on Dalmeny Street, Edinburgh on Saturday. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian 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 Londo