Bus passenger arrested after alleged Hitler and gas chamber comments to Jews

Police have arrested an individual in Hackney after he reportedly threatened Jewish passengers, including children, on board a London bus, claiming to be in possession of a knife and making comments including “you should all go in the gas chambers”.

The incident, which took place on Thursday afternoon aboard TfL’s 254 bus, saw the suspect allegedly target Jewish passengers, making threats to kill Jewish children and saying “Shame Hitler didn’t kill you.”

As reported by the Shomrim Jewish security organisation in North East London, “the bus driver stopped the bus and activated the emergency alarm”, while “members of the public intervened and assisted.” The group said that “Shomrim volunteers attended swiftly [and] detained the suspect, who was subsequently arrested by Hackney police and British transport police.”

Shomrim called for any further witnesses to contact either themselves or the Metropolitan police, quoting CAD 5358/07MAY26.

This is the second such arrest in less than 24 hours. Last night, Greater Manchester police detained an individual in his 60’s, who had reportedly made threats against Jews in the Heaton Park area of Salford, which is home to a large strictly orthodox community. The man is believed to have threatened Jews to “take knives and cut your throat” and shouted: “Jew leave the country, and we’ll make it like the Nazis in the gas chambers.” GMP arrested him on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence.

A spokesperson for the Met police said:

“Police were called at 15:51hrs on Thursday, 7 May following reports that a man on a bus on Upper Clapton Road was making threats.

“Officers attended and arrested a 50-year-old man on suspicion of making threats to kill and an offence under Section 4A of the Public Order Act. He remains in police custody.

“Officers searched the male and no weapon was found.

“The Met takes incidents of this nature incredibly seriously. The incident is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime and our enquiries continue.

“Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101, quoting CAD 5358/7MAY or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.”

Siwan Hayward, TfL’s Director of Security Policing & Enforcement, said: “We are absolutely appalled by this report. No-one should ever have to fear or experience abuse when using our network. We take a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of hate crime, and work with the police to pursue anyone who is abusive to our customers or staff.

“We are supporting the police with their investigation, alongside the bus operator, who’ll supply footage from the CCTV cameras, which all buses are equipped with. We encourage anyone who experienced or witnessed this incident to contact the police.”