A man was arrested yesterday (Thursday) in London after threatening Jewish passengers on a city bus with antisemitic slurs and violent threats, according to the Shomrim organization in London.
The incident occurred at approximately 3:45 p.m. on the Route 254 bus near Jessam Avenue and Clapton Road in Hackney. Shomrim volunteers reported that the suspect shouted it was a "shame Hitler didn’t kill you," and “You should all go to the gas chambers," while also threatening to kill Jewish children and claiming that he had a knife.
The Shomrim organization stated that the bus driver stopped the vehicle and activated the emergency alarm. Volunteers from the organization arrived at the scene and detained the suspect until officers from the Metropolitan Police arrested him.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: “Police were called at 15:51 on Thursday following reports of a man making threats on a bus on Upper Clapton Road. Officers attended the scene and arrested a 50-year-old man on suspicion of making threats to kill and committing a public order offense. He remains in police custody. Police take incidents of this nature extremely seriously. The matter is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime and our investigation is ongoing."
This was the second arrest of an alleged antisemitic attacker in less than 24 hours.
Last night, Manchester Police arrested a man in his 60s who allegedly threatened Jews in the Heaton Park area of Salford, home to a large Jewish community. According to reports, the man threatened: “I’ll take knives and slit your throats," and shouted, “Jew, leave the country, and we’ll do it like the Nazis did in the gas chambers."
Manchester Police arrested him on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offense.
Both incidents come amid a broader wave of antisemitic incidents across Britain in recent months, with police treating the cases as hate crimes.