A teenager has been charged over a suspected hate crime after two Jewish men were attacked in north London on Wednesday, the night before Holocaust Memorial Day.
Malaki Thorpe, 18, of Tottenham, will appear at Highbury Corner magistrates court on Friday charged with two counts of racially aggravated actual bodily harm (ABH) and one count of possession of an offensive weapon.
Police were called at 9.50pm on Wednesday to a road in Haringey after receiving reports that two men had been assaulted. Both were taken to a north London hospital to be treated.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan police said the incident was being treated as a hate crime.
Ch Supt Simon Crick, who leads policing in Enfield and Haringey, said the suspect was identified thanks to members of the public.
He said on Thursday: “On this most important day, this is an awful reminder that hate crime still exists.
“I know that Haringey residents will be upset by such a horrible attack and we won’t stand for anyone in our community being targeted or hurt. If you assault someone, you can expect us to do everything we can to investigate and find you.
“I’ve been in touch with members of the local Jewish community, and I’m providing additional patrols throughout the day to reassure the community.”
In October, figures showed that reported hate crimes had risen by 9% to a record number of more than 124,000 across England and Wales since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
There was also an increase in antisemitism last year after the escalation of violence in Israel and Gaza, which typically results in a surge of incidents, according to the Community Security Trust, a Jewish charity.
The CST recorded 1,308 such incidents nationwide between January and June 2021, a 49% increase on the same period in 2020 and the highest recorded in the first half of a year.
Prime minister Boris Johnson said he was “appalled” by the incident. “This attack is a terrible reminder, on Holocaust Memorial Day, that such prejudice is not consigned to history, but remains a very real problem in society. We must stamp out antisemitism,” he said.
Priti Patel described the incident as an “absolutely despicable attack”. The home secretary tweeted: “This, on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day, is a sickening reminder of why we must never allow antisemitism to take root.
“We won’t tolerate abuse towards our Jewish community. Thank you to the officers who responded swiftly to make an arrest.”