Police have arrested and charged an 18-year-old after a video purporting to show antisemitic abuse in east London went viral and sparked widespread outrage online.
The footage, filmed on Whitechapel Road in Tower Hamlets on Friday and viewed thousands of times on social media, appeared to show a man shouting: “Free Palestine…from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” before adding: “You Jews…are gonna get beheaded one by one, you dirty Jews.”
The Metropolitan Police said officers arrested Mohamed Sibous, of Schoolhouse Lane in Limehouse, on Monday. He has since been charged with a racially aggravated public order offence and was due to appear at Thames Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
In an earlier statement, the Met said the 18-year-old had been arrested on suspicion of “using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause fear of immediate unlawful violence”.
Police added: “We understand that incidents like this cause significant concern and we take all reports incredibly seriously. Hate crime of any kind has no place in our communities.”
The Jewish volunteer security group Shomrim said it was “aware of the horrific video” and warned that the Orthodox Jewish community was “exceptionally concerned” by the threats. The organisation said it was working closely with police over the incident.
The charge comes weeks after the Metropolitan Police announced a new dedicated protection team for Jewish communities in London, initially made up of 100 officers, following a series of antisemitic incidents including arson attacks on Jewish sites and a double stabbing in Golders Green.
In announcing the initiative earlier this month, the Met said British Jews now appeared “on the hate lists of every major extremist movement”, including “extreme right-wing groups, Islamist terrorists, elements of the extreme left and hostile state actors”.
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