Police probe hate crime after masked men smash windows and hurl paint on Jewish buildings
Police received reports of criminal damage on Saturday morning on High Street, Hampstead. Jewish News understands it took officers two hours to attended the scene.
Police are investigating a “hate crime” after paint was thrown on a business premises in Hampstead, north London.
The Metropolitan Police received reports of criminal damage at 9.29am on Saturday on High Street, Hampstead. Officers attended the scene two hours later.
An occupant of the building told Jewish News: “CCTV shows three masked men arrived at the office at 4:30am armed with hammers and a fire extinguisher filled with red paint. They very quickly smashed 12 ground floor windows and sprayed red paint everywhere, including inside the lobby. They then began to graffiti the word ‘Palestine’ on the wall but ran off when they were approached. The police are absolutely clear this is a hate crime, helped by the fact that the Palestinian action group have claimed responsibility.”
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Ridley said: “I know that incidents like this cause significant concern in the community. I want to offer my full reassurance that this incident will be robustly investigated. We have been clear that we have zero tolerance for hate crime.”
It came after a group calling itself Palestine Action posted photographs of red paint splattered on the windows of two buildings in London.
Images shared by the group appear to show paint covering a property on Hampstead High Street, which is an address listed for the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre.
In another post, Palestine Action claimed it had targeted the Jewish National Fund (JNF) premises.
Security Minister Dan Jarvis said: “These abhorrent acts of antisemitism have no place in our society and we will not tolerate them. We remain in close contact with policing and community partners to ensure our Jewish communities feel safe.”
A CST spokesperson said: “This damage has been claimed by an extremist group that uses violence and intimidation to pursue its goals. We are in close contact with the police and will be working to ensure that those responsible are held accountable, while advising the locations that were targeted, and the wider Jewish community, about the implications for their security.”
Palestine Action said Saturday’s protests were carried out on Balfour Day.
The Palestine Action group describes itself as a “direct action network dismantling British complicity with Israeli apartheid”.
Protesters marched through central London on the same day, from Whitehall towards Nine Elms Lane.
The Metropolitan Police arrested a man and a woman on suspicion carrying a placard expressing support for a proscribed organisation under the Terrorism Act.
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