London’s Metropolitan Police have arrested a suspect over suspected involvement in the January 21 mob attack against three Israelis in Leicester Square, according to media reports from Tuesday.
A 19-year-old man was arrested on February 22, the Jewish Chronicle reported.
Chief Superintendent Louise Puddefoot, in charge of policing in Westminster, was cited by the JC as having said, “We are continuing to investigate an antisemitic hate crime that occurred in January and are working closely with the Community Security Trust to provide the victims with appropriate support whilst updating them on our investigation.
“Detectives have carried out an extensive review of CCTV footage from the area in order to try to identify those responsible, as well as speaking with local businesses to gather additional eyewitness accounts.
“On Thursday, 22 February, we arrested a 19-year-old man in connection with the investigation.
“We’ve spoken with the victims to make them aware of this development.
“I would again like to stress that there is no place for hate crime in London, and we are determined to identify those responsible for this cowardly attack.”
The assault on the Israeli trio
A group of three Israelis were out enjoying London’s nightlife in January when a group of approximately 20 men attacked them, according to multiple media reports and limited information published by the Police.
The three victims were heard speaking Hebrew, which is how they were identified during the attack, The Telegraph reported. The Israelis were accosted by a small group of men asking them, “Are you Jewish?” The men would later call their friends to join the attack.
Responding to the attacker’s question, 28-year-old Israeli-born Tehilla confirmed she was. Upon confirmation, the men started chanting, “Free Palestine” and “F*** the Jews.”
The victims of the attack, who later received hospital treatment for their injury, complained that police failed to attend to them despite multiple phone calls.
“I hurt my leg, they punched me in the neck,” the female victim said. “I tried to run away, and I called the police so many times, at least 10 times, and I kept crying to them, ‘I’m a girl, there’s a group of guys attacking me and my friends because I’m Jewish, please can you come, I’m scared I’m going to die.
“They don’t really care. They kept saying ‘I’m sorry, it takes some time, you are not the only one that called tonight’,” she said, adding that she “never thought this would happen in London.”
My exclusive story about the antisemitic attack in Leicester square led to a lot of interest. There’s one thing many missed though. Set aside the fact that the victims said the police never arrived at the scene. Even if we take the police’s statement as is, reaching a scene of a… https://t.co/KTXjKl9sta
— Elad Simchayoff (@Elad_Si) January 22, 2024
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