A man was recorded ripping mezuzot from the doorposts of houses in Golders Green, a Jewish area in north London, on Tuesday evening.
The man – who is wearing an Abbey Road Studios hoodie – can be seen approaching the front door of a private home, where he then pulls a knife out from under his clothing and cuts the mezuzah from its place on the door frame.
The video was posted by Shomrim North West London, which added that it had received multiple reports of similar incidents across Golders Green.
Abbey Road was quick to reject claims that the man is one of its employees, saying, “We’re aware of online speculation that a member of our team has been involved in an act of antisemitic vandalism.”
“To be clear, the person in the video is not an Abbey Road employee, and he is not the individual named online. Abbey Road denounces hate of all kinds.”
This came after the X/Twitter account Gnasher Jew – which works to expose the identities of antisemites – posted who it claimed was the man involved. The account later deleted the post and said it had passed on the information to the police.
CCTV footage caught the antisemitic attacks
Shomrim added that it is actively working with Barnet police to identify the suspect and had passed on CCTV footage from affected properties and surrounding areas.
“The local religious Jewish community has traditionally borne a lot of the brunt of antisemitic attacks because they are most visibly Jewish,” it said. “This has a profound impact on our quality of life.”
The Metropolitan Police announced that officers would be carrying out patrols in the area “following these concerning reports.”
Netizens were quick to point out that the knife used appeared longer than what is legally allowed to be carried in the UK. The UK knife laws mandate that the blade should be under 3 inches, and above that, the person should have a valid reason for carrying it.
Given the scale of the knife next to the man’s index finger, it appears to exceed the legal length.