Met Police investigate antisemitic abuse reported at London Pride

The Metropolitan Police have opened an investigation into reports of antisemitic abuse at London Pride after videos circulated online showing Jewish LGBTQ+ attendees being targeted during Saturday’s march in central London.

The footage appears to show people carrying Israeli and Pride flags being confronted with chants including “go back to your Zionist homeland”. In one clip, a woman seemed to shout “f*** you, Jews”. Other demonstrators also referred to the war in Gaza during the confrontations.

A Met spokesperson said in a 6 July statement to The Standard: “We are aware of videos circulating online that show anti-Semitic verbal abuse directed towards attendees at the Pride in London event. Officers are currently reviewing footage to assess and investigate.”

The spokesperson added: “The Met continues to work hard to tackle hate crimes of all types, and officers across London have made more than 90 hate crime arrests since the end of March.”

Police were visible in several of the videos, but no arrests were made at the time of the incidents.

About 650 officers were deployed across London Pride, where more than 35,000 participants representing over 600 organisations took part.

Campaign Against Antisemitism urged that those responsible be identified and prosecuted, saying in a statement to The Telegraph that the incident showed explicit antisemitic behaviour.

Some Jewish LGBTQ+ organisations had already decided not to attend this year’s Pride because of safety concerns.

The Metropolitan Police recently announced a dedicated 100-officer community protection team focused on tackling anti-Jewish hate crime, while Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has previously described antisemitism in Britain as a growing “pandemic”.

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