Police are investigating after a man subjected a Jewish family to antisemitic abuse outside a café in St Albans, calling them ‘dirty Jews’ and pushing a pram carrying their child.
A video of the tirade filmed by the father also shows the stranger kicking an advertising board towards them.
Speaking to the Independent, Michael, who did not wish to give his full name, said the man had walked past where he and his family were sitting and “shoved the pram rather aggressively with the infant in it”.
The incident took place as he and his in-laws and their baby were sitting outside the St Albans coffee shop on Sunday.
According to Michael, when they asked the man why he had done that do them, he said it was because they were “dirty Jews”.
“At that point I took out my phone and started filming and asked him to repeat it, which he did,” Michael said.
The abuser can be seen in the video wearing a bright orange T-shirt and orange trousers.
When Michael, who wears a kippah, asked him to repeat what he said, the man repeated the abuse and tried to knock the phone out of his hand.
In the background a relative can be heard telling their young child not to “listen to this nasty man”.
“It was a bit of a shock [and] completely unprovoked,” Michael told the Independent. “It was very upsetting and very distressing.
“Obviously this comes at a time of rising antisemitism in the UK. It’s very uncomfortable.”
A spokeswoman for the Hertfordshire Constabulary confirmed that officers were investigating a “racially aggravated assault.
“Officers are investigating and any witnesses, or anyone with information, should contact Hertfordshire Constabulary on the non-emergency number 101, quoting crime reference 41/70651/19.
“Victims of hate crime can be reassured that they will be taken seriously and treated with sensitivity.”
Michael and his family have appealed to anyone who recognises the man in the video to come forward.
He said he had experienced antisemitic abuse on the streets before but added that, in his view, the recent spike in hate crimes was linked to the antisemitism crisis in the Labour Party.
“We all know that there is antisemitism in one of the largest political parties in the UK and when antisemitism is accepted by a leading political figure and not tackled properly it means that people on the street sometimes think they can get away with it,” he said.
