Kent Police Under Fire for ‘Appalling’ Non-Response to Scene of Antisemitic Rock-Throwing Assault on Jewish Family at Beach
by Shiryn Ghermezian
A Kent police car. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
A British NGO is calling for an investigation following a reported incident at a Kent beach on Sunday in which a Jewish family was pelted with stones by a group of teenagers and police failed to respond.
According to reports, the assault took place at Minster Beach on the Isle of Sheppey. Members of a London Jewish family — including two parents and their five daughters, between the ages of eight and 15 — were targeted by five teens who ran toward them throwing rocks and shouting, “Jews.”
The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said in a statement, “As the attack continued and the parents tried to shelter their children, the family called Kent Police, but the emergency operator advised them that no officers would be dispatched, despite the assailants remaining at the scene. Instead, they were told that an officer would contact them the following week to ‘investigate.'”
The CAA continued, “The failure of Kent Police to attend the scene of an active antisemitic attack is appalling and must be investigated thoroughly. Normally, police officers should be deployed to an ongoing incident or an incident where suspects remain on the scene.”
No injuries were reported in the incident, but the family did end its vacation early and returned home to Stamford Hill in the British capital, where the Shomrim neighborhood watch group is providing it with support.
“After years of police failing to charge antisemites, and the Crown Prosecution Service failing to charge them, this news of a police force refusing to come to the aid of a young Jewish family under attack is extremely alarming,” the CAA said.
According to The Jewish Chronicle, Kent Police said on Monday that no arrests had been made in connection with the attack.
The police department added on its official Twitter page: “As the informant left the scene during the call officers deemed there was no further risk, both the suspects and informant had left the area. As the informant is from outside of the county, police are arranging a suitable time to speak to the informant in due course.”
