Police make 131 arrests as faith hate crime rises in London

Nearly 200 people have been arrested for hate crime or public order offences including violence in London since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, police said.

These include 98 suspected antisemitic offences, 21 that were allegedly Islamophobic and 12 that are being treated as other faith hate crimes.

There have also been 57 arrests for public order offences, many of which were allegedly racially aggravated, the Metropolitan Police said.

Most of the arrests linked to protests were in Westminster, while most of the arrests linked to alleged antisemitism were in Hackney, north London, where there is a large Jewish community.

Commander Paul Trevers said: “This is a challenging time for communities in London.

“We continue to see a very concerning rise in both antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crime. This is absolutely unacceptable.

“No-one should be subjected to hate because of their faith or race, and we are taking action against those who are offending.

“In some cases, our officers have taken accounts of extremely shocking and hateful abuse as well as acts of violence.

“We are working with the Crown Prosecution Service to build strong cases against those who offend.

“We continue to work extremely closely with our faith communities and we know the impact on them is not diminishing.”

Since the attack on October 7 and subsequent military retaliation by Israel, police patrols at places of worship and schools in the English capital have been boosted with hundreds of extra officers.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...