The London mayoral hustings had to be stopped when Sadiq Khan was shouted down by a heckler in the audience over violent crime in the capital.
The event on Thursday night was suspended for 20 minutes when Andreas Michli, an independent mayoral candidate, repeatedly shouted out the names of teenage knife crime victims.
Mr Khan was unable to speak as Mr Michli, who sat in the middle of the 200-strong audience with two supporters, disrupted the meeting along with another unnamed woman.
When the London mayor blamed the crime levels in the city on austerity, he was interrupted with shouts of ‘no’ from some of the audience.
Andreas Michli, an independent mayoral candidate and gym owner, heckled Mr Khan
Mr Michli was asked to leave after security spoke to him. The audience applauded as he left
Speaking afterwards, Mr Khan said: ‘Hundreds of people came along tonight to listen to the debate and one person tried to ruin it for everybody else’
Mr Michli said he was protesting about the ‘absolute doo-doo coming out of Mr Khan’s mouth’, saying: ‘Children are dying.
‘The little man over there will continue to let teenagers die.’
Eventually, Mr Michli agreed to leave after multiple requests from security.
Mr Michli, a gym owner, received applause as he left the event, accompanied by security.
The event on Thursday night was suspended for 20 minutes after Mr Michli shouted out the names of murdered teenagers
Mr Michli said he was protesting about the ‘absolute doo-doo coming out of Mr Khan’s mouth’
He wrote on Twitter/X about the event, saying: ‘Last night I discovered Sadiq Khan would be attending a hustings at a Jewish community centre in Finchley Road so I rushed down after campaigning on my tour bus all day.
‘Little man khan has spent the last eight years ignoring, neglecting and worsening the fact that teenagers are murdering each other on our streets in unprecedented numbers.
‘He’s had every opportunity to face up to and deal with this heartbreaking issue, but he has instead given us lies and excuses at every opportunity he gets.
‘I certainly won’t be the man that sits quietly and listens to horse s**t coming out his mouth.
‘Eliyanna Andam, 15, Tyler McDermott, 17, Renell Charles, 16 Victor Lee, 17, Leonardo Reid, 15.
‘Here’s just a few of the murdered teenagers names that I “heckled” at little man Khan last night which he couldn’t stand to hear. Does he know who they are? I seriously doubt it.’
Conservative mayoral candidate Susan Hall also attacked the Labour mayor’s track record on crime, describing it as ‘indefensible’.
She said: ‘It’s amazing to hear Sadiq Khan try to defend his record.
‘We have had eight years when violent crime has risen 33 per cent and knife crime is up 54 per cent.’
‘Too many people face the dark reality of violent crime and sexual assaults in London.
‘In this race the Conservatives can’t win. I think everyone knows they’re in freefall nationally. But Sadiq Khan doesn’t deserve to win.’
Speaking afterwards, Mr Khan said: ‘Hundreds of people came along tonight to listen to the debate and one person tried to ruin it for everybody else.’
The hustings featured the four frontrunners including Mr Khan, Ms Hall, Green Zoe Garbett and Lib-Dem Rob Blackie.
It was hosted at the JW3 community centre in Hampstead by the London Jewish Forum.
All candidates expressed concern about the ‘from the river to the sea’ chants that have been heard at pro-Palestine marches.
Mr Khan said the October 7 attack by Hamas was the ‘largest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust that has inflicted a wound that may never heal’.
MailOnline has contacted the London Mayor’s Office for comment.
Police estimates show 1,008 homicides were recorded in the 2,773 days since Mr Khan was first elected – leaving around 130 families ripped apart every year of his tenure.
This includes 1,003 before 2023 ended – including Harry Pitman on December 31 – and another five in the first ten days of January 2024. It comes as the mayor is refusing to supply the Met Police with £70million in funds for its crucial ‘New Met For London’ reforms, yet offered a bumper £30million pay deal to unions to avert crippling Tube strikes.
The data sparked accusations that Mr Khan had only made the situation worse while in the job – although his office claimed that homicide levels had fallen to their lowest since 2014.
