A Tommy Robinson supporter spat in the face of a 4-year-old Muslim child as she queued with her mother at a branch of the high street bakery chain in the West Midlands.
The man approached the mother and daughter as they queued and spat in the child’s face before chanting the name of the infamous far-right activist ‘Tommy Robinson’ at the young girl.
Concerns have been raised when the family phoned the Police to report the incident, but the call handler didn’t know who Tommy Robinson was.
A family member reached out to Tell MAMA and agreed to have the incident reported anonymously, adding that they were targeted for abuse by the same man due to their hijab.
The mother described hearing a spitting noise but was unaware of what had just happened until she turned around and observed the ‘sheer hatred’ in his expression.
The family member believes that the man targeted them due to their ethnicity and because the child’s mother also wears the hijab.
The incident occurred on October 29 at around 13:12 GMT.
After leaving the branch of Greggs, she spotted the same man leaving an adjacent store and observed how the man had made an obscene gesture at her with his fingers.
The family have reported the incident to West Midlands Police but have expressed concern that the call handler and the responding officer ‘did not know’ who Tommy Robinson was.
The attack, however, is even more shocking, given that an adult male felt emboldened enough to not only attack a child but also to intimidate the family by invoking the name of Mr Robinson, the former English Defence League leader, in such a public setting without challenge.