The man suspected of carrying out a knife attack in London was previously referred to the UK government’s counter-extremism programme, police have said.
The suspect being questioned over the Golders Green attack has been named as Essa Suleiman, according to reports.
The 45-year-old was born in Somalia and came to the UK legally as a child in the 1990s, UK home secretary Shabana Mahmood said on Thursday.
The Metropolitan Police said he was known to the Prevent programme and that a referral had been made in 2020, which was closed in the same year.
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In a statement on Thursday afternoon, the force said: “Given the investigation remains ongoing, we will not be providing any further information in respect of this matter at this time and we remain focused on securing justice for the victims of this attack.”
Police across the country have stepped up patrols in response to the double stabbing that saw two Jewish men – Shloime Rand (34) and Moshe Ben Baila (76), named locally as Moshe Shine – taken to hospital.
The suspect was detained and arrested by officers in Golders Green following the suspected terror attack. He is a British citizen, police have said.
The British prime minister faced chants of “Keir Starmer, Jew harmer” from around 100 poster-waving protesters as he arrived at a Golders Green Jewish community ambulance centre on Thursday afternoon to meet emergency services who responded to the attack.
One of the demonstrators, Niaz Maleknia (57), said Starmer had “done nothing but stand in the way of Donald Trump and Israel” and needed “waking up”.
The Labour leader, who was joined by Metropolitan police commissioner Mark Rowley, UK home secretary Shabana Mahmood and local MP Sarah Sackman, held a roundtable with first responders and leaders from Jewish volunteer groups Shomrim and Hatzola, whose ambulances were targeted in an arson attack last month.
[ Stabbing of two Jewish men in north London declared a terrorist attackOpens in new window ]
Starmer earlier said the criminal justice response to the attack in north London must be “swift, agile and visible” as extra funding was announced to increase security for Jewish communities.
In a meeting with representatives including the Met chief in Downing Street on Thursday morning, he said the government and agencies must “come together very quickly” to take the necessary action.
Meanwhile, a further £25 million (€34 million) will be invested to boost police patrols and protections around synagogues, schools and community centres, taking the total commitment this year to £58 million.
Legislation creating proscription-like powers to pursue people and organisations acting on behalf of malign state-sponsored groups will also be “fast-tracked” in the coming weeks, ministers have said in the wake of the attack.
It is understood that the plans will be included in the UK government’s legislative agenda for the coming parliamentary session on May 13th.
The stabbings are the latest in a series of attacks on Jewish sites in the UK over recent weeks and have prompted calls for urgent action and accusations the government has not done enough to tackle anti-Semitism.
The UK home secretary signalled she would consider banning the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an Iranian military group, as she faced questions about the new laws.
[ MPs fail to land knockout blow on bobbing Morgan McSweeneyOpens in new window ]
Speaking to broadcasters on Thursday morning, Mahmood said it would be inappropriate to confirm such a move before the laws are on the statute books, but that she would be looking at “all organisations that would then fall within the purview” of the legislation.
“Just to reassure you, the only reason I’m not giving a wider commentary on who this will include is because we would never give any commentary on organisations that we are considering for either our proscription regime ... or indeed, this new regime,” she told Sky News.
“I expect to be making decisions in the very near future about the groups that we will be designating as state-linked.”
Rand, the younger victim of Wednesday’s attack, told ITV: “People are really afraid, people are uncomfortable walking in the streets.
“People are blaming obviously the government. You know they aren’t doing anything about what’s going on for the past few months.” – PA
