Faith hate attacks create 'palpable fear' in UK
There have been close to 100 faith or race hate incidents since the London bombings last Thursday, it emerged today.
A senior police officer, who is working to ease community tension in the wake of the atrocity, said “palpable fear” had been created by the faith hate attacks, predominantly on Muslims.
Rob Beckley, the Association of Chief Police Officers’ spokesman on community tension issues, said there did not appear to be a concerted campaign of revenge attacks.
However, he said there had been a number of incidents where Muslims or people of Asian appearance had been targeted for abuse or assault.
He said officers were stepping up patrols and working with a variety of community groups in a bid to provide reassurance, and promised that police would respond “robustly” to any race or faith hate crimes.
“Since last Thursday there have been things like criminal damage, some minor assaults, abuse in the streets and email abuse,” he said.
“We’re not seeing hundreds, nevertheless the fear and the impact of all these individual incidents is very high.
“So we’re trying to ensure that we respond very robustly to any incidents that we learn about.
“They are not all directed against Muslims, some have been directed against people of an Asian appearance.
“The fear is very palpable – that is what we have to acknowledge and respond to.”
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