LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — A British man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after he drove a minivan into Liverpool soccer fans celebrating their team's Premier League Championship in an incident that injured 65 people, police said Tuesday.
Authorities said the 53-year-old is also suspected of dangerous driving and driving on drugs. He was believed to be the only suspect and the incident was not being investigated as an act of terrorism.
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A fan scarf lies near the site where a 53-year-old British man plowed a minivan into a crowd of Liverpool soccer fans who were celebrating the city's Premier League championship Monday, injuring more than 45 people in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, May 27, 2025.(AP Photo/Jon Super)
Police officers stand on the street where a 53-year-old British man plowed a minivan into a crowd of Liverpool soccer fans who were celebrating the city's Premier League championship Monday, injuring more than 45 people in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, May 27, 2025.(AP Photo/Jon Super)
A tent is erected by police at the site of an incident on Water Street near the Liver Building in Liverpool after a car collided with pedestrians during the Premier League winners parade, in Liverpool, England, Monday May 26, 2025. (Danny Lawson/PA via AP)
A police officer speaks with a man at the site of an incident on Water Street near the Liver Building in Liverpool after a car collided with pedestrians during the Premier League winners parade, in Liverpool, England, Monday May 26, 2025. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)
Hundreds of thousands of fans had lined the route of the hourslong procession under heavy security along a 10-mile (16-kilometer) route through the city
Here's what we know so far about the crash:
As the parade was ending, the driver turned down an area that had been closed to traffic and plowed his car into a crowd on Water Street, in the northwestern English city.
Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims from Merseyside Police said the driver is believed to have maneuvered around a road block by following an ambulance that was rushing to treat a person suspected of having a heart attack.
Pandemonium broke out as people rushed the car and pounded on it.
Harry Rashid said that car passed him and his family and the driver came to a stop after hitting several people. However, when the crowd started smashing the vehicle's windows, the driver sped up again and struck more people.
Peter Jones said he heard the car collide with bodies and saw at least a half-dozen people down in the road.
Emergency vehicles and an air ambulance rushed to the scene to attend to the injured.
Police originally said 27 people were hospitalized and 20 were treated at the scene for minor injuries.
But they revised those figures upward Tuesday, saying 50 had been treated at hospitals and 11 remained there in stable condition. A total of 65 were injured.
The wounded included four children, one of whom had been trapped beneath the vehicle with three adults.
Police said the 53-year-old man from the Liverpool is suspected of attempted murder. They did not release his name, which is typical if charges haven't been filed.
The force took the unusual step of identifying him as a white British man in order to prevent misinformation from flooding social media, Liverpool City Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram said.
Rotheram said police did so to tamp down online speculation about the suspect as false rumors spread rapidly online of there being another incident.
Last summer, a teen in the nearby town of Southport killed three girls in a stabbing rampage at a dance class. Incorrect information quickly spread online saying the attacker was an asylum-seeker. In fact, he had been born in the U.K. Rioting spread across England and Northern Ireland, targeting mosques and accommodation for asylum-seekers.
Liverpool fans were celebrating the city team's Premier League soccer championship in a record-tying 20th top-flight title.
The team's last league title was in 2020, but fans couldn't publicly celebrate in the same way due to pandemic-related restrictions.
Monday's parade wound through the streets despite wet weather. Jubilant fans danced and waved scarves while the team's players celebrated atop two buses.
Liverpool clinched the title last month, but the season only ended Sunday. Rival Manchester United has also won 20 English league titles.
A fan scarf lies near the site where a 53-year-old British man plowed a minivan into a crowd of Liverpool soccer fans who were celebrating the city's Premier League championship Monday, injuring more than 45 people in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, May 27, 2025.(AP Photo/Jon Super)
Police officers stand on the street where a 53-year-old British man plowed a minivan into a crowd of Liverpool soccer fans who were celebrating the city's Premier League championship Monday, injuring more than 45 people in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, May 27, 2025.(AP Photo/Jon Super)
A tent is erected by police at the site of an incident on Water Street near the Liver Building in Liverpool after a car collided with pedestrians during the Premier League winners parade, in Liverpool, England, Monday May 26, 2025. (Danny Lawson/PA via AP)
A police officer speaks with a man at the site of an incident on Water Street near the Liver Building in Liverpool after a car collided with pedestrians during the Premier League winners parade, in Liverpool, England, Monday May 26, 2025. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking to foreign diplomats in Tehran, insisted “the situation has come under total control” in fiery remarks that blamed Israel and the U.S. for the violence, without offering evidence.
“That’s why the demonstrations turned violent and bloody to give an excuse to the American president to intervene,” Araghchi said, in comments carried by the Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network. Al Jazeera has been allowed to report from inside the country live despite the internet being shut off.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
