A 33-year-old man has been arrested after video showed him assaulting a Jewish woman pushing a pram in London's Stamford Hill, with police treating the attack as a suspected antisemitic hate crime.
Police were called to Upper Clapton Road in Stamford Hill, Hackney, just before 2pm on Monday. Volunteers from Shomrim, a Jewish neighbourhood watch organisation, had detained a man before calling the Metropolitan Police.
Video shows attack on Upper Clapton Road
A video widely shared online appears to show one of the attacks. The attacker is seen jogging down a street, stopping as he approaches a person walking in the opposite direction. He then twice punches the person, who appears to be a woman pushing a pram, before the victim escapes up the road. The attacker continues running in the other direction, with two bystanders in pursuit.
According to Shomrim, the victims told the organisation they were assaulted because they were Jewish, with the offender apparently only targeting Jewish women.
Arrest and police response
The suspect was arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated common assault, while three women are understood to have sustained minor injuries. The 33-year-old has also been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm in relation to a separate incident in Islington on Friday. He remains in police custody.
Ch Insp Erica Crawshaw said it had been "an alarming and distressing incident" and thanked Shomrim volunteers for detaining a suspect before officers arrived. "We recognise the concern that this incident will have caused the Jewish community here in Hackney," she said. "We have increased patrols in the area and we are speaking to community leaders to provide further reassurance."
Wider context of antisemitic attacks
The Met has appealed for anyone with information, or anyone else who believes they may have been assaulted, to come forward. The attacks come amid a series of antisemitic attacks across London this year, including an arson attack on community ambulances, petrol bombing incidents, and a knife attack on two Jewish men in Golders Green.
The spate of violence has seen the president of The United Synagogue declare "an epidemic of anti-Jewish hate" across the UK. According to polling by Campaign Against Antisemitism, 96% of British Jews feel that Jewish people in Britain are less safe compared to before October 2023.
