London Police have arrested a 18-year-old man after he was filmed violently assaulting two Orthodox Jewish men in Stamford Hill, The Jewish Chronicle reported.
According to footage released by Shomrim, the neighborhood security group, the two men were exiting a building when a figure dressed in black walks past. The attacker, Malaki Thorpe, then says something to two men who turn to face him. The attacker then begins striking the men repeatedly, with enough force to knock off one of the men’s kippot.
The man then follows them continually punching the men until they fall over.
According to Shomrim, the men were taken to hospital by Hatzola and released later the same evening.
Police arrested the man after Shomrim were able to track him using CCTV in the area.
According to Rabbi Herschel Gluck, president of Shomrim in North and East London, “The police response time was over 40 minutes, This is simply unacceptable. The Metropolitan police say they care about hate crimes and antisemitism, and if this is caring, I’d hate to see what not caring looks like.’’
The assailant was due to appear in court on Friday charged with two counts of racially aggravated assault causing actual bodily harm and one count of possession of an offensive weapon.
In the first six months of 2021, there was a record spike in anti-Semitism in the U.K., according to the Community Security Trust 5cst°, the charity which monitors anti-Jewish incidents in the country.