Teenager charged after Jewish man targeted with antisemitic abuse inside Oxford Circus Underground station
A teenager has been charged with a religiously aggravated public order offence after a Jewish man was targeted with antisemitic abuse inside Oxford Circus Underground station on 4th July.
The seventeen-year-old suspect is due to appear at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on 2nd August.
The boy in question is believed to have been involved in an incident where a person shouted “I f***ing hate the Jews” at a Jewish man whilst he was travelling down the escalators at Oxford Circus station.
In a statement, British Transport Police said: “We’re aware of a video posted online of…antisemitic behaviour on a London Underground escalator. We take such incidents very seriously and are investigating. If anybody has any information contact us on 0800 405040 or text 61016 quoting ref 90 of 4 July 2021.”
Immediately following the incident, Campaign Against Antisemitism released a statement thanking the victim’s brother for publicising the incident. The statement added: “We will be following up privately, but for those reading the thread [on Twitter] we wanted to note that police investigations have now been opened and we are in touch with police and Transport for London. #ZeroTolerance”
Earlier that night, the same Jewish man reported a separate incident of antisemitic abuse, in which an aggressive passenger can be heard threatening him and saying: “I’ve got a shank, I will slit your throat for Palestine” and “I’ll beat the s**t out of you.”
The passenger was then ordered off the bus, where he proceeded to swear at the Jewish man and bang on the doors of the bus.
Campaign Against Antisemitism recently launched an appeal for information about the suspect in the earlier incident.
Campaign Against Antisemitism recently met with Transport for London as part of work to improve the response to antisemitic incidents on public transport.
Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews almost four times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.
