A knife-wielding man who reportedly targeted Jewish people in north London was arrested after threatening a shopkeeper on Tuesday.

The incident happened in the Jewish community of Stamford Hill.

The man was seen brandishing the large knives shouting: “You Jews run away from here before I kill you,” according to police.

Photographs showed the man brandishing what is thought to be a meat cleaver and a long, thin knife.

A Met Police spokesman said nobody had been hurt in the incident and a 61-year-old man has been arrested by police in Hackney.

Scotland Yard said they had been called at around 4pm to reports of a man armed with two knives threatening a shopkeeper on Upper Clapton Road.

The “Campaign Against Antisemitism” reported the following:

The man is said to have tried to enter a kosher food shop but staff locked the door. He then allegedly entered another kosher shop brandishing his knives and shouting: “Where is the boss, I will kill him!” When told that the owner was not there, the man, who is described as white, allegedly ran out of the shop towards two Jewish girls aged 8 and 14, shouting “You Jews run away from here before I kill you.”

Stamford Hill Shomrim received multiple calls to their emergency lines and deployed immediately. Witnesses allegedly saw the man enter a block of flats to which Shomrim volunteers followed him, whilst another Shomrim team retrieved CCTV from the shop the man had allegedly entered. Shomrim passed their information to the Metropolitan Police Service which immediately entered the block of flats and made an arrest.

This is an extremely frightening incident and it is very fortunate that there are no injuries reported. We commend Stamford Hill Shomrim and the Metropolitan Police Service for their bravery in rushing to the scene to protect the public. Violent antisemitic crime continues to rise at an alarming rate and will continue to do so until antisemitic incitement is taken seriously by the authorities before it translates into violence.

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