Teenager pleads not guilty to hate crime over alleged antisemitic video

A teenager accused of making racially aggravated comments in a video posted to social media has denied committing a hate crime.

Muhammed Rachid, 18, pleaded not guilty to a charge of causing racially aggravated harassment when he appeared in the dock at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Tuesday.

The charge comes after a man allegedly shouted abuse towards the Jewish community in comments made to a camera outside the East London Mosque in Whitechapel in May.

The charge states Rachid allegedly “demonstrated towards another hostility based on his or her membership or presumed membership of a particular group”.

The video came to police attention after it went viral on X on 15 May.

Rachid, a sports college student and part-time warehouse worker from Limehouse, east London, was told he will face a two-day trial on a charge of causing racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress with threatening or abusive words or behaviour on 19 July 2027.

He was conditionally bailed to next appear at Snaresbrook Crown Court for a pre-trial hearing on 15 June 2027.

In May, the Metropolitan Police boosted patrols protecting London’s Jewish communities after a series of arson attacks at Jewish sites in the previous two months, with a dedicated team of 100 officers.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley previously said 300 extra police officers were needed across London as he warned of a growing “pandemic” of antisemitism in the UK.