A man was brought down with a Taser outside the Palace of Westminster after he reached for a knife when approached by officers, Scotland Yard has said.<\/p>\n
A bearded man, wearing black trousers and a grey sweatshirt, was seen being held against the fence with his arms behind his back by a police officer.<\/p>\n
Scotland Yard said the man was arrested on suspicion of possessing a knife.<\/p>\n
He was held just yards from where PC Keith Palmer was stabbed to death by terrorist Khalid Masood in March.<\/p>\n
Joe Murphy, London Evening Standard political editor, tweeted: “There were shouts of ‘knife, knife, knife’ and man was brought down with a Taser.”<\/p>\n
BBC deputy political editor John Pienaar said the latest incident ended very swiftly with the man being taken away in a police van.<\/p>\n
While the gates are closed, the road and pavement opposite remained open and the incident had no affect on traffic in Parliament Square, he said.<\/p>\n
Eyewitness Bradley Allen, 19, from Barking, east London, who was walking past Parliament, said he saw a man “who looked quite angry with fists quite clenched”.<\/p>\n
“He stared at me and my mate and we walked past him. Within seconds there was a shout and police ran out of the front gate shouting at him ‘Get on the floor, get on the ground’.<\/p>\n
“Within seconds he was on the ground – I’m not sure whether he was Tasered – I’m not sure how he got down there, but in seconds it was over.<\/p>\n
“Armed police everywhere, telling everyone to move back, and we all got pushed back.”<\/p>\n
Security around Westminster was tightened following the attack by Masood, who was shot dead after fatally stabbing PC Palmer as he guarded Carriage Gate.<\/p>\n
A review of security at the perimeter of the parliamentary estate was ordered by Commons Speaker John Bercow following the incident.<\/p>\n
The use of armed officers and physical barriers have become more visible, while a permanent barrier has been erected to protect pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, where Masood murdered five people and injured more than 50 others by mounting the pavement in a car.<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"