John Swinney says victims of Edinburgh knife attacks deeply traumatised

John Swinney has said victims of the allegedly anti-Muslim knife attacks in Edinburgh last week have been deeply traumatised by their experiences. Scotland’s first minister spoke to some of the five men injured in the series of attacks that appeared to target Muslims and people of colour around the city on Friday evening, with four taken to hospital. Speaking to the PA news agency after a visit to Broomhouse mosque, near where the attacks are thought to have started, Swinney said he had come with a message of solidarity, sympathy and empathy for those affected. “I have spoken to some of the young men who were injured as a consequence of this act on Friday evening. They are not only physically injured but they are deeply traumatised by the attack,” he said. “I’m here to express the solidarity of the Scottish government and the political leadership of Scotland with the community who will be traumatised,” he said. The incident could have “enormous consequences for cohesion within our community”. The suspect in the attacks, which allegedly involved assaults on worshippers leaving Broomhouse mosque, taxi drivers, passersby and bicycle couriers, was was scheduled to appear in Edinburgh sheriff court in private on Monday. Police with stun guns arrested a white Scottish man aged 38 and bare chested on Leith Walk at aabout 9.30pm on Friday night after reports of a series of incidents at at least six locations involving someone wielding bladed weapons. …