Ian Campbell pleads guilty for shouting 'I hate the Jews, burn them' on bus filled with Jewish schoolchildren in anti-Semitic attack.
(INN) The 42-year-old Briton who spewed anti-Semitic curses on September 16 on a London bus filled with Jewish schoolchildren was found guilty of his crimes on Thursday.
The man, Ian Campbell of Bowes Road, N11, was arrested in late September and charged with "using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behavior to cause harassment, alarm or distress" on the 102 bus in the predominantly Jewish Golder's Green neighborhood.
Campbell allegedly shouted "I hate the Jews, burn them. I’m going to burn this bus," and said the traffic was "the Jews’ fault." He also reportedly said "get the Jews off the bus, all they do is (expletive) us."
At the Hendon Magistrates Court on Thursday morning Campbell pleaded guilty to his charges, and was put on bail until October 31 when he will be sentenced following a mental health assessment.
Rosa Doherty (27), a journalist for the Jewish Chronicle, was traveling on the 102 bus and witnessed the incident first hand. After Campbell boarded the bus and shouted "get the Jews off the bus...I hate the Jews," she says he got off.
Despite Doherty's complaints to the driver, she reports that he allowed Campbell to reboard the bus moments later, where he apparently continued his anti-Semitic tirade.
Doherty reports that she also called the authorities at 999, but was told that the remarks were "not abuse - only anti-social behavior." Authorities later gave her apologies and promises to investigate the incident.
Anti-Semitism has been on a steep rise in the UK, with thousands taking part in anti-Israel protests during Operation Protective Edge. Those demonstrations have included pro-Palestinian rioters vandalizing a Birmingham Tesco store out of rage over a refusal to boycott Israeli products.
In a similar incident, hundreds of demonstrators rioted outside the Kedem store in Manchester, in a series of clashes which culminated in dozens of death threats being hurled at the store's owners.
Recent statistics show that hate crimes against Jews have risen 383% worldwide since 2013, including a 436% hate crime hike in Europe.
