Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Islamophobia by a local in Haringey!
My wife was shopping in Wood Green with our 10 month old daughter on Saturday the 30th of March.
She decided to take a seat in McDonalds to feed our daughter her bottle of milk. After about 10 minutes she noticed a man come and sit right next to her on the bench of seats where by all the other seats where empty. She ignored him and thought nothing of it but then he started mumbling under his breath whilst turning and facing her and writing stuff down in his notepad. At this point my daughter had finished drinking so my wife turned to face him and saw he was a tall, big black man, with sunglasses on, dreadlocks and headphones on with rings all over his fingers. She automatically assumed he was maybe into music of some sort and was writing lyrics down on the note pad hence the mumbles. She smiled at him and got up and left and continued on with her day.
Later on I came across the below on my Instagram feed and showed my wife, I was concerned for her safety as TPL is our local station. I was shocked to find out this was the same man who was sitting right next to her in McDonalds!
She recognized him straight away due to his distinct clothing and appearance.
As we are all aware Social Media is a very small world, whilst scrolling through the comments of this post. I came across this-
The account called "*******" also tagged this guys Instagram profile which I clicked on to find it is the same man in the first picture. I scrolled through his page to find half of his pictures in Wood Green and inside McDonalds in Wood Green. I showed my wife this profile and she confirmed it is definitely 100% the same man who sat next to her.
So whilst i was on the platform at TPL station Morning on my way to work. I showed the station staff the Instagram post and he advised they are fully aware of the situation and an investigation is currently being done on this man. He advised me that the initial incident of the physical attack was committed in Finsbury park but the incident was reported by the female at TPL station. I also showed the TFL staff member this mans Instagram profile and address details in which he took pictures of on his TFL Ipad and advised he will be sending these to the investigation team for review.
He is very unique in appearance so his not hard to miss. Apparently he lives on the ladder according to the Instagram post. I cant believe things like this occur on our door step and especially the face that my wife was so close to him with out 10 month old baby daughter!!! Haringey is such a diverse Borough with wonderful cultures there is no space for people like this. This angers me so much that someone could do that to another innocent person.
(NOTE FROM SITE ADMIN: In line with our house rules his post has been edited to anonymise the identity of the person who is its subject.)
Tags for Forum Posts: islamaphobia
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by OneWomanAndHerDog on
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I’m sorry that you wife was made to feel unsafe Jamal. Thanks for letting us know about him.
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Permalink Reply by HoL Site Admin on
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Hi Jamal, this sounds like a horrible incident and I'm sure that the vast majority of HoL members will join me in condemning it without reservation.
Having said that, for very good reasons, we have a house rule that strictly forbids making accusations against identified individuals that might become the subject of criminal or any other legal proceedings.
Accordingly, we've edited your post to anonymise the individual. I hope you'll understand why we do this.
I'm assuming that you have reported the incident to the police. I hope that they can bring the force of law to bear as appropriate.
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Permalink Reply by Jamal on
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Thank you for editing the post Hugh, all good from my side. I totally understand why.
I haven't reported it myself as nothing was really done to my wife however TPL station have assured me that TFL are looking into the initial Attack at FP. Hope my information helps with their investigation.
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Permalink Reply by melanie allen on
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i saw same person this morning near Iceland ,clothes are very distinct but the person was really angry and shouting.Quite scary so i opted to step off the pavement. If this is someone that needs help i hope the relevant agencies have been informed.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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This is care in the community combined with a toxic media. As much as I disapprove of obvious displays of religion I think we could all start wearing hijabs as two fingers to these racist journalists filling these poor people’s heads with filth.
I’m really sorry your wife went through this but please find it somewhere in your heart to forgive him. If he’s the guy I think he is he also startled my daughter a couple of years ago at Turnpike Lane station by pulling her earphones off and yelling in her ear.
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Permalink Reply by Geraldine on
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Agree. We should all be grown-up enough to recognize the difference between so-called Islamophobia and the unbridled aggression of a person with obvious mental problems who is pushed out into a community and allowed to intimidate and injure. Care in the community indeed! There seems to be none.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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When you’re at the receiving end I doubt it feels any different.
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Permalink Reply by Shar on
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Jamal - sorry to hear your wife's experience. It's disconcerting on its own even before knowing he had assaulted someone else the same day for no reason.
Racism and xenophobia (in any direction) simply has no place in the world.
I'm no stranger to being attacked without reason (not entirely certain whether it was racist or not) - so I can't help but keep an eye out to avoid this particular individual for my own safety, who does look very familiar BTW.
On the other hand, I'm also sad to have read some of the comments on that Instagram thread. I hope such events lead to a cycle of solidarity rather than stereotyping and hate.
And hopefully the authorities will do what they should.
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Permalink Reply by Tammy Palmer on
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Hi Jamal,
I am really sorry to hear about your experience. I also witnessed this man intimidating a young Muslim woman at Turnpike lane station on Saturday morning I assume this is the same incident- he was wearing the red outfit in the photo. He chased the young woman along the platform and boarded our Westbound tube and sat in the same carriage as us.
I am normally pretty quick to step in and help but I really didn't feel safe enough to confront him on a tube platform he was very aggressive and I had my seven year old with me. I imagine that others also felt very intimidated by him too.
I really do hope that he is dealt with properly by police his behaviour was very intimidating and no-one should fear going about their day to day business.
I am more than happy to provide a statement to the police with regards what I saw.
very best wishes
Cllr Tammy Palmer
Ward Cllr for Crouch End
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Hi Tammy,
Thank you for your concern. I wish i was there at that time. I would've had said or done something, people like that cant be allowed to run riot.
I believe he has been caught and detained? im not sure on how true this is.
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Hi Jamal
I agree, had I been on my own I would have taken more action - at least to make sure the young woman was ok, It wasn't immediately clear what was happening to be honest and it happened very quickly, I just wanted to get my little one safely on the train and off the platform as this guy literally ran up behind us.
I am genuinely sorry I didn't stop and help her and hope that she is ok.
Sadly I think sometimes you get so used to seeing criminal behaviour you can normalise it which is perhaps why others didn't intervene. The following day after this for example I got off the bus and saw someone smash a car window in broad daylight and steal a disabled badge - I did try and help find out whose car it was at least but I really wasn't as shocked as I should have been to have seen it!
Hopefully he has been caught and will be dealt with appropriately by local police - it sounds like he might be known to them in all honesty.
My general experience of living here for the last 11 years certainly in terms of valuing the very diverse communities we have in Haringey is mostly positive, sure we have our issues like everywhere else but I hope hate crime really isn't going to be something anyone that lives or visits us has to worry about and something we must continue to have a zero tolerance approach to everywhere!!!
thanks
Tammy
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FYI, sometimes it can be a good midpoint to warmly greet the person being targeted, as if you were planning to meet up, and suggest you both 'get going because we'll be late'. It only works if it's a situation that's worrying rather than fully escalated, but it's a useful thing to bear in mind. Puts the person creating the problem right off.
Someone rescued me in this way years ago when a weirdo had started following me and was determinedly speeding up the chase as I crossed the road trying to get away. A total stranger at the bus stop had seen what was happening and pretended to be a friend who'd been waiting for me. I was so grateful for the quick thinking.
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