Man, 58, arrested following hate crime probe after footage shows 'evil' man destroying memorial to October 7 victims

8 October 2024, 06:46

A 58-year-old has been arrested following a police investigation into alleged hate crimes, after footage emerged showing a man destroying a memorial to the victims of the October 7 attacks.

Sussex Police confirmed a 58-year-old man from Hove had been arrested on Monday 7 October on suspicion of racially/religiously aggravated criminal damage after the footage emerged.

The arrest comes a day after police announced they were launching an investigation into the memorial's destruction, describing the incident as a hate crime.

The memorial in Hove, near Brighton in East Sussex, was destroyed by the man on Thursday evening ahead of the first anniversary of the attack which killed 1200 Israelis.

The man, dressed in a beige tracksuit and cap, can be seen tossing flowers, cuddly toys and other objects - including a memorial plaque - into nearby bushes.

The man remains in custody, police have confirmed.

It comes as a second man seen attempting to calm the situation in the footage has been identified as 37-year-old former soldier Ryan Jackson.

"I couldn't just walk past," he said, adding "I'm no hero" - as the video shows him confronting the man and detering him from further vandalising the memorial.

Warning: This video contains strong language

Man in Brighton trashes October 7th memorial

Police said they were aware of the footage which they said was being treating as a hate crime on Monday.

The former soldier-turned-builder told the MailOnline: "The memorial is at the top of our street.

"Young kids go there with their parents to pay tribute to the children who were killed in Israel. There are teddy bears and footballs to remember the kids by. I've taken my five-year-old daughter there.

"So, when I saw this geezer throwing everything around I couldn't just let it happen," he explained

"It doesn't matter which side of the argument you are on, this a memorial to the children that died.

"I'm not an aggressive guy but this man was very angry," he added.

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The footage, reposted on social media by Heidi Bachram - wife of Adam Ma'anit, whose Israeli family members were taken hostage and murdered by Hamas during the attack - shows the as-yet unidentified man trashing the memorial on October 6.

"I hope the police can now put out an appeal for the violent antisemite who did this now we have video evidence. I wish I knew who the defender of the memorial was so I could thank him," she wrote in a post to X.

Two members of the public can then be seen approaching the man as he destroys the memorial - one of whom is Mr Jackson.

"He was saying, 'you don't know what they've done, you don't know what they've done'," Mr Jackson continued.

"He looked like he was ex-military, so I didn't know what to expect. But I wanted to make him stop so I told him to back off.

He added: "I'm no hero but when you see something wrong you've got to do something."

The incident came ahead of the first anniversary of the attack, which sparked a widening war in the Middle East.

A Sussex Police statement said: "We are aware of a video circulating online of a man damaging a Jewish memorial in Hove".

Detective Superintendent Ben Newman, Sussex Police, added: "We understand that this incident has caused great upset within many communities, and we would like to reassure the public that our investigation team is working hard to gather all the facts and bring this matter to a positive conclusion.

One social media user wrote: "A man like that is a menace to any community. If he’s willing to do this, he’s capable of a lot more when no one is looking."

While another user wrote in response to the post: "What an evil being. I hop[e] the police take draconian action against him to warn others off."

A third commented: "A frightening lack of empathy for human beings- same psychopathic behavior exhibited by those tearing down the posters.

"These savages are a symptom of a country’s fatal disease, eroding trust, collaboration, fracturing communities & halting progress. Antisemitism is just a start."

The vandalism took place just hours before the families of the 97 missing Israelis and 1200 victims gathered for a vigil at the site of the massacre to pay their respects.

The vigil in Israel saw President, Isaac Herzog, marked the first anniversary of the brutal massacre in a moving statement.

It comes as Sir Keir Starmer says that Brits must "stand with the Jewish community" as he reiterated calls for ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon on the anniversary of the October 7 massacre in Israel.