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Stabbing in Golders Green
London police charged Essa Suleiman with attempted murder after he stabbed two Jewish men in Golders Green, north London, in what multiple outlets described as a terrorist incident.
“Police said Essa Suleiman, 45, had been charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a bladed article in a public place in relation to the attack”
Al Jazeera said the Metropolitan Police charged Suleiman with two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a bladed article in a public place, after the stabbings in a residential area of the UK capital on Wednesday.
Reuters was cited by The Times of Israel and said the attack occurred in Golders Green, “in the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Golders Green, in north London,” where Suleiman was charged following a Counter Terrorism Policing investigation.
CNN reported that the two victims were aged 76 and 34 and were stabbed in Golders Green on Wednesday, and that on Friday morning Suleiman was charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a bladed article.
The AP similarly said the attack in Golders Green left two men, ages 34 and 76, hospitalized with knife wounds, and that counterterrorism police were investigating whether the stabbings were linked to recent arson attacks on synagogues and other Jewish sites.
Several outlets also described Suleiman as a 45-year-old man, with CNN specifying he was “from Camberwell in south London,” while Al Jazeera and The Times of Israel described him as 45 and Somalia-born.
The suspect was remanded in custody and due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, with Al Jazeera saying he was “due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court later on Friday” and The Times of Israel saying he appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday for the first time.
Threat Level and Arrest
After the Wednesday stabbings, UK authorities raised the national terrorism threat level to its second-highest level, and officials framed the change as signaling that an attack within the next six months was “highly likely.”
Al Jazeera said officials raised the national terrorism threat to its second-highest level after the stabbings, “signalling that an attack within the next six months is “highly likely”.”
CNN reported that the UK terrorism threat level was raised from “substantial” to “severe” by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, meaning a terror attack is “highly likely.”
NPR likewise said the official threat level from terrorism was raised from substantial to severe after Wednesday’s stabbing attack, and described severe as the second-highest rung on a five-point scale meaning intelligence agencies consider an attack “highly likely in the next six months.”
The AP said police called the stabbing an act of terror and that counterterrorism police were investigating whether the stabbings were linked to recent arson attacks on synagogues and other Jewish sites.
Multiple outlets also described how police immobilized the suspect, with Al Jazeera saying Suleiman resisted arrest and was detained with the use of a taser gun.
In court, The Times of Israel said Suleiman appeared in the dock wearing a grey tracksuit and that prosecutor Emma Harraway said he attacked a former friend in south London on Wednesday morning before carrying out the attack in north London later that day.
Prevent Program and Past Violence
Several reports connected the suspect’s case to the UK government’s Prevent program and described how police and prosecutors characterized his background.
“Police said on Thursday that Suleiman was referred to the government’s counter-radicalization Prevent program in 2020, but his case was closed within six weeks.”
Al Jazeera said police raised the terrorism threat level after the stabbings and reported that Suleiman was charged with attempted murder in relation to a separate incident earlier on the same day in south London, and that he resisted arrest and was detained with the use of a taser gun.
The Times of Israel added that police said Suleiman was referred to the government’s counter-radicalization Prevent program in 2020, but his case was closed within six weeks, and it described Prevent as being under increased scrutiny after the murder of three children by Axel Rudakubana in Southport in July 2024.
CNN and ABC News both described Prevent as a program that tries to steer individuals away from extremism, with ABC News saying police said Suleiman was referred in 2020 to the government’s Prevent program and that “The police force said his file was closed later the same year, and didn’t disclose the reason for the referral.”
NPR similarly said the suspect had been referred in 2020 to Prevent and that the police force said his file was closed later the same year and didn’t disclose the reason for the referral.
The AP and other outlets described the suspect’s mental health and violence history, with the AP quoting Rowley that the suspect had “a history of serious violence and mental health issues.”
The Times of Israel further reported that The Telegraph said Suleiman had previously been jailed for stabbing a police officer in 2008, and it described the 2008 stabbing of Police Constable Neil Sampson with a bread knife.
Reactions and Political Pressure
Public and political reactions to the stabbings emphasized both security and the broader climate of antisemitism.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged stronger action to protect Jewish people, with Al Jazeera reporting that Starmer pledged stronger action will be taken to protect Jewish people and that the police commissioner Mark Rowley said officers who arrested a man after Wednesday’s stabbings were “shaken” after the intervention.
CNN reported that Rowley warned in an interview with Times Radio that the UK was facing a “pandemic of antisemitism,” and it quoted Rowley saying, “We need work done upstream to tackle those attitudes in society, which are far too prevalent.”
NPR said Starmer told the public that his government “will do everything in our power to stamp this hatred out” after two Jewish men, ages 34 and 76, were seriously injured, and it described Starmer being heckled by about 100 protesters holding signs saying “Keir Starmer, Jew harmer” when he visited Golders Green on Thursday.
The AP said Buckingham Palace reported King Charles III was “deeply concerned,” and it quoted Rowley as saying the attack was “another horrendous act of violence directed against our Jewish communities.”
In Parliament, BFM said Starmer described the attack as “very worrying” and said, “We all must (...) clearly affirm our determination to fight against this type of attack, of which we have seen too many examples recently.”
Several outlets also carried criticism of police handling and the use of force, with Al Jazeera reporting that the Green Party leader Zack Polanski retweeted an X post accusing officers of “repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head” when he was already incapacitated from being tasered.
Competing Claims and Next Steps
The reports also diverged on how the attack fit into a wider pattern of antisemitic violence and on what authorities were prepared to do next.
“Detectives are investigating a potential Iranian link to those attacks, but police said that it’s too soon to say whether Wednesday’s stabbing is connected.”
CNN and AP both said the stabbings followed a string of attacks targeting synagogues and other communal buildings, with CNN listing arson attacks on four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity in Golders Green in March and describing other attacks on a synagogue and the former premises of a Jewish charity.
AP said counterterrorism police were investigating whether the stabbings were linked to recent arson attacks, and it also said detectives were investigating a potential Iranian link to those attacks but that it was too soon to say whether Wednesday’s stabbing was connected.
NPR described the government’s position that antisemitism was an emergency and said detectives were working to determine a motive and whether there was any link to Iranian proxies, while also saying that several arson attacks have been claimed online in the name of Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia.
Al Jazeera reported that the stabbings were followed by social-media reporting by the Community Security Trust and said several incidents have been claimed by HAYI, whose name means the Islamic Movement of the People of the Right Hand, and it also said British police have arrested 26 people for various attacks launched since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran on February 28.
The Times of Israel added that Starmer said his government would seek “stronger powers to tackle the malign threat posed by states like Iran,” and it quoted Starmer’s statement that “we know for a fact that they want to harm British Jews.”
On the legal timeline, The Times of Israel said Suleiman would appear again at London’s Old Bailey court on May 15, while Al Jazeera said he was due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court later on Friday.
