6 men held for breaking into London synagogue

Six men are arrested after they forced their way into a synagogue in north London.

The men, who were drunk, tried to enter a synagogue in the largely Haredi neighborhood of Stamford Hill late on Saturday night, the BBC reports.

Synagogue security staff removed the men, Metropolitan Police tell the BBC.

https://youtu.be/YPhFLwsF_Aw

“The incident is being treated as an anti-Semitic incident, due to remarks made by one of the group,” a police spokesman tells the BBC. “However, there is nothing to suggest that it was a planned or targeted attack.”

A video of the incident shows around 10 members of the synagogue having to defend themselves with chairs and makeshift clubs as the gang attempts to enter a room in the synagogue, the London-based Jewish Chronicle reports.

The gang is seen in the video threatening the worshippers who are preventing them from entering the room.

Police tell the BBC they increased patrols in the neighborhood.

— JTA