BBC Video: Taser gun used on man with knives outside Buckingham Palace
3 February 2013 Last updated at 12:19 ET
An officer discharged the weapon when the man, thought to be in his 50s, acted aggressively when challenged outside the centre gates at 11:50 GMT.
The Metropolitan Police said he had been arrested on suspicion of affray.
Two knives and a pair of trainers were left inside a police cordon set up around the area. The Queen and Prince Philip were at Sandringham at the time.
Changing the Guard
A spokesman for the Met said: "A man was seen outside the centre gate in possession of two knives.
"He was not making threats to members of the public but he was challenged by police.
"He acted aggressively and a Taser was discharged."
The man was spotted with the weapons during the Changing the Guard ceremony, which hundreds of tourists and Londoners had gathered outside the palace to see.
Eyewitness Kevin Burrows, 33, from Surrey, said: "There must have been about 15 police officers on foot who surrounded him once he'd been Tasered. The police saw him really quickly and were obviously cautious."
He added: "Everybody was standing back when it happened and people were actually quite calm, I think everyone was surprised."
Buckingham Palace said it would not comment on what was a matter for the police.
More on This Story
taser - GS
Talhat Rehman holding a knife to his
neck before being tasered outside Buckingham Palace (Grant Shepherd)
Taser gun used on man with knives outside Buckingham Palace
Mobile footage, courtesy of Josh Greenberg and Grant Shepherd
shows the man being Tasered before police disarm him
Police have used a Taser stun gun on a man who was
brandishing two knives outside Buckingham Palace in London.
An officer discharged the weapon when the man, thought to be in his 50s, acted aggressively when challenged outside the centre gates at 11:50 GMT.
The Metropolitan Police said he had been arrested on suspicion of affray.
Two knives and a pair of trainers were left inside a police cordon set up around the area. The Queen and Prince Philip were at Sandringham at the time.
Changing the Guard
A spokesman for the Met said: "A man was seen outside the centre gate in possession of two knives.
"He was not making threats to members of the public but he was challenged by police.
"He acted aggressively and a Taser was discharged."
The man was spotted with the weapons during the Changing the Guard ceremony, which hundreds of tourists and Londoners had gathered outside the palace to see.
Eyewitness Kevin Burrows, 33, from Surrey, said: "There must have been about 15 police officers on foot who surrounded him once he'd been Tasered. The police saw him really quickly and were obviously cautious."
He added: "Everybody was standing back when it happened and people were actually quite calm, I think everyone was surprised."
Buckingham Palace said it would not comment on what was a matter for the police.
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Man with two knives shot with Taser at Buckingham Palace gates
Police were on Sunday forced to Taser a man who ran towards Buckingham Palace wielding knives in the air and holding a blade to his throat before throngs of tourists.
Talhat Rehman, 54, broke from the crowd in the middle of the Changing of the
Guard ceremony, holding one blade to his chest and another to his throat.
As an officer tried to intervene, he lunged at him waving both knives and was
shot with the stun gun.
He was arrested on suspicion of affray and taken away in a police van.
Officers at the scene suggested he was known to them.
Talhat Rehman holding a knife to his
neck before being tasered outside Buckingham Palace (Grant Shepherd)
A police cordon was thrown around the scene just 30 metres from the palace
gates.
The two knives Mr Rehman had been carrying, an Afghan-style hat, a set of
prayer beads and his high-top trainers remained within the cordon alongside
Taser barb, the wire released as the electrical current is discharged from the
gun.
The Band of the Grenadier Guards played on through the melee as baffled tourists watched the incident unfold shortly before 12pm.
Josh Greenberg, a sixth-form student at St Paul's School in London, said: “I was walking past the palace, heard some commotion in the area next to the Victoria Memorial looked to my right, the guy ran out into the middle of the square with a knife at his neck.
Moments after the man holding a knife to
his neck was tasered outside Buckingham Palace (Grant Shepherd)
“Within a few seconds he was surrounded by police horses and officers on foot. Less than two minutes later a car came with officers with Tasers.
"One stood in front of him and the other went around from behind and discharged the Taser then the police got him on the floor, kicked the knives away and put him in the back of a van.
“He was shouting but it was quite unintelligible. Police were clearly telling him to drop the knife and instructing public to get back."
(Victoria Ward)
A video posted online showed Mr Rehman standing alone near the Victoria Memorial.
A mounted policewoman yelled at the crowds to move back as he held one of the blades to his throat. As the officer pointed the Taser in his direction he lurched at him, waving the knives in the air.
As he fell to the ground he was quickly surrounded by officers who checked him over before carrying him away.
Eyewitness Kevin Burrows, 33, a kitchen porter from Kingston, Surrey, said: “The crowd had been pushed back behind a barrier but he came at the police. He was threatening them with knives.
“The police saw him and acted very quickly. They surrounded him within seconds. I saw the shot fired. It took a couple of seconds for him to hit the ground.
“I've never seen anything like it before. I didn't expect that, I didn't expect it whatsoever.”
(PA)
A Scotland Yard spokesman last night that Mr Rehman, of Harrow, North West London, had been charged with two counts of possessing a bladed weapon in public and one of affray. He will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court today.
"He was not making threats to members of the public but he was challenged by police,” the spokesman said. “He acted aggressively and a Taser was discharged.”
A scenes of crime officer documents
evidence at the scene between the Queen Victoria Memorial and Buckingham
Palace (PA)
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were at Sandringham at the time of the incident.
In the last three years, police have used Tasers on at least 78 people to stop them killing or hurting themselves, according to figures obtained under Freedom of Information laws.
The Metropolitan Police used Tasers 224 times between October 1 2010 and March 31 2011.
(@GazWeetman)
The Band of the Grenadier Guards played on through the melee as baffled tourists watched the incident unfold shortly before 12pm.
Josh Greenberg, a sixth-form student at St Paul's School in London, said: “I was walking past the palace, heard some commotion in the area next to the Victoria Memorial looked to my right, the guy ran out into the middle of the square with a knife at his neck.
Moments after the man holding a knife to
his neck was tasered outside Buckingham Palace (Grant Shepherd) “Within a few seconds he was surrounded by police horses and officers on foot. Less than two minutes later a car came with officers with Tasers.
"One stood in front of him and the other went around from behind and discharged the Taser then the police got him on the floor, kicked the knives away and put him in the back of a van.
“He was shouting but it was quite unintelligible. Police were clearly telling him to drop the knife and instructing public to get back."
(Victoria Ward) A video posted online showed Mr Rehman standing alone near the Victoria Memorial.
A mounted policewoman yelled at the crowds to move back as he held one of the blades to his throat. As the officer pointed the Taser in his direction he lurched at him, waving the knives in the air.
As he fell to the ground he was quickly surrounded by officers who checked him over before carrying him away.
Eyewitness Kevin Burrows, 33, a kitchen porter from Kingston, Surrey, said: “The crowd had been pushed back behind a barrier but he came at the police. He was threatening them with knives.
“The police saw him and acted very quickly. They surrounded him within seconds. I saw the shot fired. It took a couple of seconds for him to hit the ground.
“I've never seen anything like it before. I didn't expect that, I didn't expect it whatsoever.”
(PA) A Scotland Yard spokesman last night that Mr Rehman, of Harrow, North West London, had been charged with two counts of possessing a bladed weapon in public and one of affray. He will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court today.
"He was not making threats to members of the public but he was challenged by police,” the spokesman said. “He acted aggressively and a Taser was discharged.”
A scenes of crime officer documents
evidence at the scene between the Queen Victoria Memorial and Buckingham
Palace (PA) The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were at Sandringham at the time of the incident.
In the last three years, police have used Tasers on at least 78 people to stop them killing or hurting themselves, according to figures obtained under Freedom of Information laws.
The Metropolitan Police used Tasers 224 times between October 1 2010 and March 31 2011.
(@GazWeetman)
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