North London man arrested over alleged far-right, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic social media posts

A 41-year-old man has been arrested in London on suspicion of inciting racial hatred following a police investigation into "extreme right wing, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic" posts on social media.

Met Police officers raided two addresses, both in north London, as part of a pre-planned operation by the Crime Disruption Unit within the Met Police's Counter Terrorism Command.

One man, from London, was arrested at about 6.30am on Wednesday (29 June) on suspicion of inciting racial hatred. He was taken to a north London police station where he remains in custody.

A number of 'digital items' (presumably tablets and mobile phones) have also been seized at one of the properties searched. The suspect has not been named and police say no further details will be released at this stage due to "operational reasons".

The arrest comes as a 20-year-old man remains in police custody after a US Army veteran was racially abused on a tram in Manchester.

A group of youths were filmed on Tuesday morning (28 June) shouting abuse at Juan Jasso, before flinging beer at him. One of the young men, who is pictured wearing a hat and a coat, repeatedly shouts at Jasso to get off the tram, telling him "get back to Africa". A 16-year-old boy and a second man, aged 18, were both bailed after also being arrested on suspicion of affray following the incident.

On Wednesday, David Cameron told the House of Commons extra funds would be provided as part of new measures to "drive appalling hate crimes" out of Britain. It comes after figures released by the National Police Chiefs' Council suggested a 57% increase in the number of hate crimes reported since the EU referendum vote on 23 June.

"We will be publishing a new action plan on tackling hate crime shortly to step up our response," Cameron said.

"We want new steps to boost reporting of hate crime and supporting victims, new CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) guidance to prosecutors on racially aggravated crime, a new fund for protective security measures at potentially vulnerable institutions, and additional funding to community organisations so they can tackle hate crime."

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