Two men who filmed themselves verbally abusing a Jewish man in east London for social media have been convicted of an antisemitic hate crime, police have said.
Guilty Plea at Thames Magistrates' Court
Adam Bedoui, 20, and Abdelkadir Amir Bousloub, 21, travelled to a predominantly Jewish area of London on Thursday to film antisemitic content for TikTok, the Metropolitan Police said. Both men pleaded guilty at Thames Magistrates' Court on Saturday to a religiously aggravated public order offence. They will be sentenced at the same court on June 5.
“This was a deliberate and targeted antisemitic attack, aggravated by the pair’s intention to post the incident on social media to spread hatred,” Detective Superintendent Oliver Richter, who leads policing in Hackney and Tower Hamlets, said on Saturday. “It is completely unacceptable and has no place in London.”
Details of the Incident
Police were called at around 9pm on Thursday after Bedoui and Bousloub, both of West Drayton in Hillingdon, west London, targeted a Jewish man in Clapton Common, Hackney. The two tried to flee when officers arrived but were swiftly detained, the Met Police said.
Two 20-year-old men and a 21-year-old man were also arrested in connection with the incident and have been released on bail pending further inquiries, the force also said.
“Our officers acted quickly to arrest those responsible, and within 48 hours they have been brought before the courts and convicted,” Mr Richter added. “That should send a clear message: we will act decisively against anyone who commits hate crime. We know the harm incidents like this cause to communities and we will continue to take all reports with the utmost seriousness.”
Metropolitan Police's New Community Protection Team
This comes after the Metropolitan Police announced on Wednesday a community protection team of 100 extra officers to help safeguard the Jewish community. In its initial phase, the new team will be “primarily focused on protecting the Jewish community, which faces some of the highest levels of hate crime alongside significant terrorist and hostile state threats”, the Met Police said. They added that it would bring together “neighbourhood policing, specialist protection and counter terrorism capabilities” to provide a “more visible, intelligence-led and co-ordinated presence focused on protecting Jewish communities across London”.
Over the past four weeks, the Met Police have arrested around 50 people for antisemitic hate crimes and charged 10, according to the force.
