Man charged over anti-Semitic death threats to Luciana Berger
The Liverpool politician is believed to have been targeted with racist threats, including some abuse referencing deceased MP Jo Cox
A man has been appeared in court over an anti-Semitic threat to MP Luciana Berger.
John Nimmo, 28, of Moreland Road, South Shields has been charged with sending a message causing anxiety or distress.
It’s understood that the message to the Liverpool Wavertree MP included an image of a knife and a reference to the murdered MP Jo Cox.
She has reportedly received a number of emails which are understood to have included an image of a kitchen knife, as well as warnings telling her: “You better watch your back Jewish scum”.
The Liverpool Wavertree MP is believed to have contacted police after receiving the messages on Friday.
A police statement said: “Northumbria Police is working closely with Merseyside Police after reports of mailicious communication to a Merseyside MP.”
In a statement Ms Berger, who stood down as Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet minister for mental health, extended her uiratitude to the police for their “swift action” in dealing with the abuse.
She added: “Behaviour like this seeks to threaten our democracy. Intimidation of any kind should never be tolerated.”
Last month Labour MP Jo Cox, 41, was attacked outside her constituency surgery in Birstall, West Yorkshire.
The mother of two died after she was shot and stabbed – seeing her murder send shock waves around the country and the world.
In May Ms Berger officially joined the race to become Liverpool’s first metro mayor and is currently campaigning to win Labour’s vote as the party’s preferred candidate in the 2017 election.
Since she became an MP Ms Berger has been the target of a barrage of hate messages in the past – often referencing her Jewish religion.
Ms Berger has previously revealed how at one point police told her she was the subject of 2,500 hate messages in just three days using the hashtag ‘filthyjewbitch’.
In October 2014 Garron Helm, from Litherland, north of Liverpool, was handed a four-week custodial sentence at Merseyside Magistrates’ Court for sending an anti-Semitic tweet to Ms Berger.
She has also previously revealed that the messages of abuse she has received have forced her to increase security at home, including fitting a “bomb bag at the back of my post boxes”.
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