London's Summer of Discontent

Last night, an attacker drove a van into a crowd of worshippers leaving prayers at London’s Finsbury Park Mosque, killing one person and injuring 10 others. Early reports suggest that the attacker shouted “I want to kill all Muslims,” then drove his van into a small crowd who had gathered on the sidewalk to help an elderly man taken suddenly ill, who died at the scene.

The horrific attack could have proved much deadlier if not for the actions of the crowd, who pinned the attacker down, and an imam from the nearby Muslim Welfare Center, who protected the attacker until police arrived to arrest him. The violence is nonetheless a terrible blow, one that falls especially hard because it comes at a time when London is having one of its toughest summers in living memory. The city is crackling with electric tension, temperatures are pushing 90 degrees, the political order is wobbling. And it’s only June.