The suspect in the Golders Green knife attack has appeared in court charged with attempted murder.
Essa Suleiman, 45, has been charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a bladed article in a public place over the incident in Golders Green, the Metropolitan Police said.
Suleiman, of Camberwell, south London, was also charged with attempted murder of a “friend” in Great Dover Street in Southwark earlier the same day.
He appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday morning and was remanded in custody.
Police tasered and arrested the suspect after the double stabbing which saw two Jewish men – Shloime Rand, 34, and Moshe Ben Baila, 76, named locally as Moshe Shine – taken to hospital.
The development comes as the Metropolitan Police said pro-Palestine marches will be reviewed after the UK terrorism threat level was raised to “severe”.
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Suspect had been under care of mental health services
The suspect in the stabbings in Golders Green had been under the care of South London and Maudsley Trust’s mental health services, according to reports from the Press Association.
A spokesperson for South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are aware of the police investigation taking place across London following the incident at Golders Green.
“This is an ongoing investigation and it would be inappropriate to comment any further at this time.”
'We saw the warning signs'
The director of Public Affairs in the Jewish Leadership Council has said that the community is "reeling once again from another attack".
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Russell Langer said it's moving into a feeling of anger as "people have been warning about this".
Mr Langer said: "We saw the warning signs. At this point in time, I don't think there's any faith in the community that something like this isn't going to happen again.”
He added that the community now needs to see the "cost for antisemitism raised" and argued for long term heightened support from the police in Jewish communities.
Surrey enhance security after Golders Green attack
Surrey Cricket Club have increased security and bag checks at the Oval following the Golders Green knife attacks.
The incident contributed to the UK terrorism threat level being raised to “severe”, the second highest level on the scale and means the chance of terror attacks are considered “highly likely” by authorities.
The club has moved quickly to reflect the changing circumstances, with a club statement reading: “Surrey are in regular communication with the Met Police and will adjust our own security measures in line with the increased threat level. We want to ensure that all staff, spectators and players feel safe and secure at the Kia Oval and will take the action necessary to do so.
“Please note there will be additional security presence and heightened bag searches at this weekend’s Rothesay County Championship match with Sussex, so please allow additional time to enter the ground.”
Sir Mark Rowley: Prevent can be improved
Sir Mark Rowley has said he is sure that the Government’s Prevent counter-extremism programme “can be improved further”.
In a statement on Thursday, the Metropolitan Police said the suspect in the double stabbing attack in Golders Green, north London, was referred to the Prevent programme in 2020.
Asked about whether he thinks the Prevent programme is working, Sir Mark Rowley told LBC: “There’s no diverting programme for any type of crime, whether it’s diverting people out of gangs or out of extremism, that will ever be 100% successful.
“It has a lot of successes. I’m sure there’s ways it can be improved further.”
Suspect arrives at court
A police van believed to be carrying Essa Suleiman has arrived at Westminster Magistrates' Court.
Suleiman has been charged with attempted murder and police have declared a terrorist incident after two Jewish men were stabbed in Golders Green on Wednesday.
Suleiman, a British national who was born in Somalia, was tasered and arrested at the scene
Chief Rabbi: 'We are witnessing the normalisation of antisemitism'
The Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis has said there is deep concern and anguish in the Jewish community following the attack in Golders Green, but that he is proud of the community's "resilience, strength and fortitude".
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said that he has long called for "zero tolerance on antisemitism".
The chief rabbi says "anger is palpable" over the chanting of "globalise the intifada" during protest marches, a chant used by pro-Palestinian protesters to call for resistance against Israel.
"We are witnessing the normalisation of antisemitism and it has not been taken seriously enough,” he said.
Asked if protests scheduled for this weekend should be allowed to happen at all, he said that while free speech is an integral part of our society, “freedom must always be accompanied by responsibility, when freedom lends itself to irresponsible activity you have to draw the line somewhere.”
Met chief concerned about upcoming protests
Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has said he is “concerned” about the scale of upcoming protests in the capital after the attack in Golders Green.
He told LBC: “There’s some big marches planned for two weeks, tomorrow and the 16th.
“I’m sort of concerned about the scale of those in this context and we’re looking hard at what conditions and powers we should use in respect of those events.
“Protests can’t be banned, Parliament has made it clear, but they can’t be.
“What we can do – we can restrict how a march takes place and, in the most extreme circumstances – and it’s a very high bar – we can restrict it to a static event alone, and we’re looking at all possibilities and what’s appropriate in this circumstance.”
Asked about a temporary pause on demonstrations, he said: “That’s a matter of Parliament, that’s not within the law, I have no power to do that.
“If Parliament wants to do that then, of course, we would sort of execute on the decision they made.”
No response to request for funding for 300 additional officers
Alex Davies-Jones has declined to say when the Met Police would receive a response on its request for funding for 300 additional officers to protect Jewish communities.
Asked when the force would receive an answer, the victims minister did not provide a time, referring to existing plans to increase policing numbers across the country.
She said: “Discussions will be ongoing with the Home Secretary and I know that she is taking this extremely seriously.
“She was in Golders Green this week, she’s working with Sir Mark Rowley and she hears his calls for more officers, as she does across England and Wales.
“It’s important that we get it right and we get the effective resourcing where we need it.”
Sir Mark Rowley defends Golders Green officers
Sir Mark Rowley has said the officers who arrested the Golders Green attack suspect were “shaken” after the intervention.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski retweeted an X post accusing the officers of “repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head” when he was already incapacitated from being tasered.
Asked if the officers’ behaviour was “acceptable”, Sir Mark Rowley told LBC: “I sat down with the officers on Wednesday afternoon, a couple of hours after the attack, and you could still see they were shaken.
“They’d taken on a terrorist, and as that incident developed they were afraid, because he didn’t comply at all, even after being dropped to the floor by a taser, they were afraid that he might have an explosive device on him from the way he’s behaving, he didn’t in the end, and of course they used a lot of force.
“I’m not interested in politics but if somebody eminent, rather than some of the oddballs on social media, if someone eminent says something or does something which I see has a risk to undermining the confidence of my officers to act – because they need that sense of public support – they now need to intervene on that, and that’s what I did with that letter.”
He said in a letter to Mr Polanski he was “disappointed”, adding that the post was “inaccurate and misinformed”.
Asked if it was “necessary” to kick the man in the head during the arrest, Sir Mark Rowley said of the officers: “They’re using the force that they seem (sic) necessary.
“Unless you’ve been in that moment where you’re scared stiff and you’re confronting somebody so dangerous, it’s hard to put yourself in that situation.
“They’re desperately concerned about stunning him and sort of neutralising him.”
Davies-Jones: 'We need direct action'
A Home Office minister said she agreed with the Metropolitan Police commissioner that there was a growing “pandemic” of antisemitism in the UK.
Victims’ minister Alex Davies-Jones told Times Radio: “I think there is a current level of antisemitism in the country that is totally intolerable and we need direct action.
“What we saw happen in Golders Green over the past few days, and indeed over the past few months, whether that be the horrific attack at the Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester, the ambulance attack that we had recently in London.
“These are a pattern and it is intolerable, and the Government is taking action to keep not just the Jewish community safe, but all of us safe.”
Ms Davies-Jones added that pro-Palestine marches have been “hijacked” by people looking to cause “division and hatred”.
She said: “I think we have seen antisemitic activity in these marches. That is a fact.
“We have seen chants of death, calls for global intifada, and that is wrong.
“But people do have the right to protest the actions of Israel, if that’s what they deem fit. And I think it’s really, really important here that we recognise that not everybody on these marches is antisemitic.
“They have been hijacked by certain individuals who are seeking to cause division and hatred in our country, and are using these marches and are using these positions to cause fear and intimidation.”