UK terror police probe Dover migrant center attack

London, Nov 1 (EFE).- British counter-terrorism police have taken over the investigation into an alleged petrol bomb attack on a migrant center in Dover in southeast England two days ago, authorities said Tuesday.

The “hate-filled” attack was allegedly carried out by a man identified as Andrew Leak, 66, who killed himself after the incident, the police’s counter-terrorism unit in southeast England (CTPSE) said in a statement.

Superintendent Olly Wright insisted that counter-terror police taking over the case did not mean there was a “wider threat” to the community.

“What appears clear is that this despicable offence was targeted and likely to be driven by some form of hate-filled grievance, though this may not necessarily meet the threshold of terrorism,” he said.

British Home Secretary Suella Braverman has been widely criticized for language she used on Monday in the House of Commons in addressing the incident.

Braverman said the UK was facing an “invasion” of migrants, as nearly 40,000 people have been caught trying to cross the English Channel to Britain this year, more than twice as many as in the same period last year.

“No Home Secretary serious about public safety or national security would use the language Suella Braverman did the day after a petrol bomb attack on a Dover centre,” lamented the opposition Labour Party’s Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.

The UK’s Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, an independent position appointed by the justice ministry every five years, on Tuesday urged the government to “take action” to improve conditions for migrants in Dover.

The Labour opposition claims that the center is overcrowded with nearly 4,000 people, despite being designed to hold only 1,600. EFE

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