A suspected terrorist who stabbed two Jewish men in Golders Green has a history of serious violence and mental health problems, Britain’s most senior police officer has said.
Police Response
Sir Mark Rowley told journalists in Golders Green that two police officers who tasered and arrested the 45-year-old knifeman believed he had a bomb when they confronted him on Wednesday. He praised the officers as “nothing short of extraordinary.”
“They confronted a man they believed to be a terrorist, who refused to show his hands, who was violent and continued to pose a clear threat,” he said. “These were not armed officers, and they feared that he was carrying an explosive device. Using only their training, their courage and their Tasers, they managed to detain him whilst he continued to try and attack and stab them.”
Attack Details
Two men aged 76 and 34 are in a stable condition in hospital after they were stabbed in Highfield Avenue, Golders Green, northwest London, at around 11.15am. The attack has been formally declared a terrorist incident by Counter Terrorism Policing.
Laurence Taylor, head of Counter Terrorism Policing, said: “Our highly specialised teams of officers are working with the Metropolitan Police to progress this investigation quickly and establish exactly what has happened. We’re also working with our partners in the security services to ensure we have a full intelligence picture and one of the lines of inquiry is whether this attack was deliberately targeting the Jewish community in London.”
Wider Context
The scene is about half a mile from a memorial wall where an attempted arson attack took place on Monday and near to where four Jewish community ambulances were destroyed by fire in late March. These are among a number of alleged arson attacks on Jewish sites in London in recent weeks, with a terror group, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI), claiming responsibility. It has also claimed responsibility for the stabbing, although this is treated with scepticism due to the different nature of the knife attack.
Community Reactions
Chief rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis said: “Following the antisemitic stabbing of two Jewish people on the streets of Golders Green this morning, words of condemnation are no longer sufficient. This must be a moment that demands meaningful action from every institution, every community, every leader and every decent person in our country. This is a hatred that we must face down together.”
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood pledged that the government would “strain every sinew” to keep Jewish people safe, and a Cobra meeting has been called following the stabbing. King Charles, currently on a visit to the US, is being kept informed and “is naturally deeply concerned” about the impact on the Jewish community.
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “The antisemitic attack in Golders Green is utterly appalling. Attacks on our Jewish community are attacks on Britain.” Deputy prime minister David Lammy called the attack horrific, adding: “No one should live in fear because of who they are.”
Witness Accounts
A pizza shop worker on Golders Green Road said he helped the elderly stab victim after he saw him bleeding from his neck. Tariq Aziz, who works at pizza takeaway shop Slice, told the Press Association: “He came to our shop and then I gave him a tissue and helped him, and then police came suddenly and arrested the guy.” He said the suspect “wasn’t running away” after the attack and that when the police came, he pointed out the suspect as he was “just walking down there with a knife.”
Ben Grossnass, a volunteer in community security group Shomrim, said: “We got a phone call to the hotline at 11.20am this morning, we were on the scene within a minute-and-a-half of the phone call. I saw a lot of shock in the street and the attacker was having CPR, I think he went into cardiac arrest after being tasered. There is a lot of hate in society and antisemitism. There are ways the government can crack down on this and it is time they did that.”
Police said they are working to establish the “nationality and background” of the attacker. He was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in custody after being checked over at hospital.
