You see all the hate on the news but you don't think it's going to come to your doorstep
At 9:31 AM this morning police were called to a stabbing and car attack on a synagogue in Manchester.
We went to the scene of the attack to speak to local residents about what they saw today.
One resident said: “I came out to people just blocking the road panicking [...] It’s really not nice what’s happened and especially on my doorstep where, you know, even in the area it’s very cultured. My neighbour is Muslim, my other neighbour is Sikh and my other neighbour after that is Jewish.”
Adding: “It’s a shock. You see all the hate and stuff spreading on the news, but you don’t think it’s going to come do you doorstep.”
We also spoke to members of the Jewish community who came to the scene, one man said: “I just live around the corner, and I woke up and we just heard the police cars and helicopters flying around and then I got a notification through my phone to say there’d been an attack on a synagogue in Manchester.”
He said: “It’s not my personal synagogue but friends of mine go to the synagogue. It’s quite a long standing synagogue for Heaton Park and it’s just come as a massive shock to the community. Nothing like this has ever happened in Manchester where there’s been fatalities in the Jewish community.”
Adding: “An attack on the holiest day of the year is disgusting.”