Jewish man racially abused twice in a night on London public transport

4 July 2021, 18:06 | Updated: 10 July 2021, 21:10

By Nick Hardinges

@NHardinges

Police have launched two investigations after a Jewish man had anti-Semitic abuse hurled at him twice in a night on London's public transport.

One video posted on social media appeared to show a group of men chanting racial abuse at the man as they travelled down an escalator at a London tube station.

In the footage, seen by LBC, a man can be heard chanting "F****** hate you Jew", while another says: "We've got a Jew behind us."

One male then shouts: "There's about nine Jews," before the words "F****** hate you Jew" are repeated.

Some of those recorded were wearing England football shirts while others had the flag of St George draped around their shoulders.

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A spokeswoman for the British Transport Police (BTP) said the force was made aware of the footage by the Metropolitan Police on Sunday and it was not clear when it was taken.

BTP said a man had looked at the victim "and made an anti-Semitic remark"

"We take such incidents extremely seriously and are investigating.

"We believe everyone has the right to travel on the rail and underground without fear or intimidation."

Later on Sunday, the Met confirmed it was investigating a second incident involving a man being "subjected to a torrent of anti-Semitic abuse on a bus in central London".

It took place on a route 113 bus near Oxford Circus at around 11:40pm on Saturday.

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The police said a man reportedly "made anti-Semitic comments and threats towards another passenger".

"Officers are aware of a video posted on social media following the incident and will be meeting the victim to gather further information about this incident," a Met spokesperson said.

They added: "Behaviour of this kind and abuse against any individual or group has no place in our city. We will not tolerate it and will act quickly and robustly in response to all reported crimes of this nature."

Enquiries are ongoing and no arrests have been made in relation to either incident.

If anybody has any information on the first incident, they can contact BTP on 0800 405040 or text 61016 quoting ref 90 of 4 July 2021. Anyone with information on the second incident is asked to call 101 and quote 8333/3July.