The British Transport Police (BTP) have arrested a suspect after releasing footage of a man they were seeking in relation to a member of the public being shoved onto the tracks of the London Underground on October 27th.
The force released video footage of a black male who they were “seeking to identify in connection [with the incident] after he was seen behaving aggressively at Marylebone station on Saturday 29 October” on their website and on social media.
On Thursday, the London Underground, often referred to as the Tube, saw a “series of assaults”, with one man allegedly assaulted at Baker Street station at 11:50 a.m., another allegedly shoved onto the railway tracks at around 12 p.m., and a third coming forward to say he was allegedly “assaulted by the same man on a train from Finchley Road” later on.
Announcing they had found the man they believed to be a suspect, the BTP said: “We’re pleased to update that a 37-year-old man has been arrested after a man was pushed on the tracks and two others assaulted on the Underground last week,” in an update on the case shared on social media.
“He was identified by two off duty officers on the Central Line this afternoon. Thanks to everyone who shared our appeal,” they added.
Similar attacks have become increasingly common on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean in New York City, with the New York Post recently reporting there have been 25 such incidents on NYC’s venerable subway system so far in 2022.
These shoving attacks sometimes prove deadly, as in January of this year when Michelle Alyssa Go, a 40-year-old East Asian heritage woman, died after being pushed into the path of an oncoming train by Simon Martial, a 61-year-old black male.
They have also taken place in Continental Europe, with a Moroccan migrant pushing a woman onto railway tracks in Hamburg, Germany in 2017, and a Tunisian migrant pushing a man onto railway tracks on the Paris Metro in France and yelling “Allahu Akbar!” in January of this year, for example.