London man with meat cleaver threatens Jews, is arrested

An assailant armed with a meat cleaver threatened Jews in the London neighborhood of Stamford Hill on Tuesday before he was arrested, according to a local Jewish neighborhood patrol.

The Shomrim of North East London wrote on Twitter that the attacker — who also held another knife — was detained by police after confronting young Jewish girls, brandishing the weapons and yelling that he would kill them.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The man tried to enter a kosher food shop during the incident but was prevented from doing so when staff locked the door, according to a statement issued by the London-based Campaign Against Antisemitism.

He then entered a second kosher store, shouting, “Where is the boss, I will kill him!” Told that the owner was not there, the man allegedly ran out of the shop toward two Jewish girls, aged 8 and 14, shouting, “You Jews run away from here before I kill you.”

Shomrim, the volunteer Jewish neighborhood patrol, tracked the man as he entered an apartment block and sealed off the area, allowing London Metropolitan Police to arrest him, according to reports.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson confirmed the suspect’s arrest to The Sun tabloid.

BREAKING UPDATE: Suspect who threatened Jews with meat cleaver and large knife in #UpperClapton has just been arrested by Police pic.twitter.com/pjcrCqRBUF

Advertisement

— Shomrim (London North & East) (@Shomrim) May 9, 2017

“A man in his 60s has been arrested for affray and possession of an offensive weapon,” the spokesperson said.

Stamford Hill is home to a large Jewish community.

“This is an extremely frightening incident and it is very fortunate that there are no injuries reported,” Gideon Falter, chairman of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, said in a statement. “We commend Stamford Hill Shomrim and the Metropolitan Police Service for their bravery in rushing to the scene to protect the public. Violent anti-Semitic crime continues to rise at an alarming rate and will continue to do so until anti-Semitic incitement is taken seriously by the authorities before it translates into violence.”

In March, an attacker ran down several pedestrians near the British parliament before charging at a policeman, stabbing him to death with a large knife. Armed officers shot the attacker dead but not before he had killed two members of the public and the 48-year policeman guarding the seat of British political power. The attack, the deadliest in the country since 2005, was claimed by the Islamic State.

Agencies contributed to this report.