Man tells Jewish woman ‘we should have gassed the lot of you’
Disturbing footage shows the moment a man hurled antisemitic abuse at a Jewish woman in a Wetherspoons, telling her ‘we should have f*****g gassed the lot of you’.
Student Danielle Greyman, 21, was at the Hedley Verity pub in Leeds on Thursday when she was subjected to abuse from a fellow pub-goer after giving money to a homeless man. The student began recording the incident on her phone when the man, who claims to be German, began making antisemitic statements.
Danielle was meeting friends for a drink when a row broke out over social distancing after a man and a woman refused to move seats. Instead of going elsewhere, she and her friends held their ground and tried to get the pair to leave.
The student, who is in her third year studying sociology at Leeds, told MailOnline: ‘We got there sat down everything was fine but there were two strangers at our table not socially distancing and refusing to move.’
She added: ‘I don’t like it when people are trying to intimidate us. So I started talking about periods because I know it’s the easiest way to make a man feel uncomfortable.’
Danielle said the atmosphere grew more uncomfortable when a homeless man approached and asked to perform some magic for the outdoor tables in exchange for money. Danielle offered him £5, which angered the woman, she said.
‘The woman started yelling at me and being rude – she was saying I was a fool and that he was going to spend it on heroin,’ she added.
During their exchange, Danielle used the phrase ‘mazel tov’, a popular Jewish phrase that roughly translates to mean ‘congratulations’.
The man then asked her if she was Jewish, after which Danielle started filming ‘because I know what comes after that question.’
In the video, Danielle is heard asking the man if he thinks she looks Jewish, to which he confirms ‘yes’, adding: ‘We should have f*****g gassed the lot of you’.
Horrified by his words, Danielle retorts: ‘What you’ve actually just done is commit a hate crime’ and told him that he had ‘said something antisemitic’.
She adds: ‘If you want to gas my people, I will take you to court. I’m not joking – I will ruin your whole f*****g life.’
Danielle’s friend, Isabel Stock, spoke to the police on the phone, while Wetherspoons staff dealt with the incident and said that a man and a woman were asked to leave and banned from returning.
The student said she was left shaken by the incident, but doesn’t regret standing up for herself and not allowing the man to go unchallenged.
She said she is ‘never going to back down’ if she is subjected to antisemitic abuse, adding that ‘there are people out there who would have been terrified to call them out and challenge it.’
West Yorkshire Police said the investigation is ongoing and have asked for anyone with further information to get in touch. So far, no arrests have been made.
A spokesperson for the force said in a statement: ‘Any incidents motivated by hostility and hate are unacceptable and are taken very seriously by West Yorkshire Police.
‘If you believe you have been subject to a hate-related incident, you should contact police and report it.’
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