According to a report made by the Shomrim Jewish neighbourhood watch group a bearded man was arrested by Metropolitan Police officers after he was seen to be shouting ‘Hitler, Hitler’ near a synagogue in Stamford Hill in North London.

The incident occurred on Clapton Common where local Jewish residents were going to synagogue. The Shomrim say that the man was arrested on a ‘hate crime’ charge and for possession of cocaine. It certainly looks from the video, which I’ve embedded below, that this bearded man is out of his head on something and I also suspect that there is a mental health aspect to this incident bearing in mind that there is a major mental health treatment facility just up the road in Seven Sisters. It’s quite possible that he came from there or he might be one of those mentally ill people who regularly fall through the cracks of Britain’s creaking and often incompetent NHS mental health system.

However, it might not just be drugs or mental health behind this incident. Bearing in mind that this guy could be a Turkish Muslim, going by his appearance, we should not discount that Islam inspired Jew hatred might be a factor in this incident.

I’m all for freedom of speech but screaming ‘Hitler’ at Jews going into a synagogue is not free speech, it’s a threat, just as a mob screaming ‘kill Muslims’ outside a packed mosque is also a threat. Put aside the ‘hate crime’ stuff for a moment along with the nature of the target and the alleged offender and what we have here is threatening behaviour pure and simple. I believe that many people, no matter what their politics or point of view will agree with me when I say that threatening behaviour is not acceptable.

Stamford Hill seems to be attracting a lot of screaming and violent nutters recently. Some have been arrested or charged or convicted but there are probably others who have not been apprehended. Not all of these reports of screaming violent nutters concern ‘bearded individuals’ but so far, by far the majority whose descriptions have been released, seem to be that way. Because of the nature of the population of Stamford Hill, which is an area that contains a lot of Jews, it’s becoming a magnet for those with an animus against Jews and that’s something that the Met needs to be aware of and deal with.