Bystanders including a Polish man who confronted a knifeman in London on Friday were praised by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who described them as "the best of us".
Speaking to media on Saturday at the scene of the London Bridge attack that left two people dead, Khan said he was "really proud" of the "extraordinary" way the men acted, saying it showed the strength of London's diversity.
On Friday, Usman Khan, wearing a fake suicide vest and brandishing knives, went on the rampage at a conference on prisoner rehabilitation beside London Bridge, fatally stabbing two people and injuring three others.
The group of bystanders, including the Polish man brandishing a narwhal tusk he had taken from the wall of Fishmongers' Hall, wrestled the knifeman to the ground before he was shot dead by police.
Vigil for the victims
London held a vigil on Monday for two people killed near London Bridge by a convicted terrorist who had been released early from prison, an incident that thrust criminal justice to the centre of a campaign 10 days before a national election.
Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, both former students active in a programme on prisoner rehabilitation, were killed on Friday when Usman Khan went on the rampage with kitchen knives at a conference about the programme beside London Bridge.
At the vigil, London's mayor, Sadiq Khan, said the British capital had gathered "in a spirit of defiance to say that London will never be cowed or intimidated by terrorism."
"The best way to defeat this hatred is not by turning on one another but is by focusing on the values that bind us to take hope from the heroism of ordinary Londoners and emergency services who ran towards danger."
The attacker had been sentenced to a minimum of eight years in 2012 for offences including plotting to blow up the London Stock Exchange and British parliament. He was released a year ago without an assessment from the parole board of whether he was a threat to the public, despite a warning from the sentencing judge that such an assessment should be made.
"I absolutely deplore the fact that this man was out on the street, I think it was absolutely repulsive and we are going to take action," Johnson, whose party has been in power since 2010, said on Sunday.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Reuters, PAP