A man has been charged with a terror offence in connection with an attack on police officers near Buckingham Palace with a four-foot sword.
Three officers were injured in the incident on Friday in which a suspect drove a car at police outside the palace, reached for a sword and shouted “Allahu Akbar” before being incapacitated with CS spray, police said shortly afterwards.
Two of the officers were taken by ambulance to hospital with minor cuts and discharged a short time later. The third officer did not require hospital treatment.
On Thursday, police announced Mohiussunnath Choudhury, from Luton, had been charged with an offence under the Terrorism Act 2006 of “engaging in conduct in preparation for giving effect to his intention to commit an act or acts of terrorism”.
The 26-year-old will appear in Westminster Magistrates’ Court later on Thursday.
The incident prompted a large police presence and a cordon outside the palace.
Witness Nicole Kyle told the BBC: “I was walking toward The Mall and St James’s Park when I saw police rush down toward the palace in great numbers.
“As we got further down The Mall we saw armed police outside a police van, at which point we were able to walk closer to the palace still, where we were eventually stopped by a cordon.
“All we were told was that there’s been an incident.
“A few minutes later police came by to have us clear the area and move further away from the palace.”
No members of the Royal family were at the Palace when the incident took place.