Met Special Constable Caught Berating Al Jazeera Crew, Then Quietly Edited His LinkedIn

When you hold the same legal powers as a regular police officer, you might think twice before launching into a filmed tirade against working journalists. David Soffer, it seems, did not get that memo.

Soffer, a technology businessman and volunteer special constable with the Metropolitan Police, was caught on camera confronting an Al Jazeera news crew in Golders Green, north London, on Monday 23 March. The journalists were reporting on an arson attack that had destroyed four ambulances belonging to Hatzola, a Jewish community-run emergency medical service that has been operating since 1979.

His choice of words? "Go back to Qatar." He also reportedly called one journalist "you donkey, you dog" in Arabic, which is quite the linguistic flex for someone apparently trying to position himself as a defender of civil discourse.

The Arson That Sparked the Confrontation

The tirade followed a genuinely alarming incident. In the early hours of Monday morning, three hooded suspects poured accelerant into four Hatzola ambulances and set them ablaze. The resulting oxygen cylinder explosions shattered windows in a nearby residential block, displacing 34 residents from their homes. This was not petty vandalism; it was a calculated attack on a charity ambulance service.

Counter-terrorism officers are leading the investigation, though the Met has not formally classified the incident as terrorism. Two British nationals, aged 47 and 45, were arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life and subsequently released on bail until April. Reports indicate police are examining a possible link to Iran, and a Shia group called Ashab al-Yamin claimed responsibility on Telegram.

The UK government responded swiftly. Health Secretary Wes Streeting pledged to fund four replacement ambulances for the charity.

From Law Enforcer to LinkedIn Editor

Here is where things get particularly awkward for Soffer. Special constables are volunteer officers who hold the exact same powers as their full-time colleagues. They are, in every meaningful sense, police officers. So when one is filmed hurling abuse at journalists covering a crime scene, it creates something of a PR headache for the Metropolitan Police.

Declassified UK first identified Soffer, and the Met confirmed he was indeed one of their special constables. The force referred the matter to its professional standards team, which is the polite institutional way of saying "we need to have a word."

Soffer, for his part, quietly scrubbed the "special constable" title from his LinkedIn profile. Nothing says "I know this looks bad" quite like a hasty social media edit. Declassified UK also reported that his social media activity included engagement with posts by far-right activist Tommy Robinson expressing pro-Israel views.

Press Association reporters at the scene also reportedly heard journalists being called "terrorist sympathisers," though this claim has not been independently corroborated beyond PA's account.

A Charged and Complicated Backdrop

The confrontation sits within a deeply charged context. Al Jazeera has faced mounting hostility from pro-Israel groups, particularly after the Israeli government moved to shut down the network's operations in 2024. The Knesset passed the enabling legislation by a vote of 71-10, and Prime Minister Netanyahu accused the broadcaster of "actively participating in the October 7 massacre and inciting against IDF soldiers."

None of which, it should be noted, gives anyone licence to abuse journalists doing their job on a London street. Reporters covering a crime scene are performing a public service, regardless of which outlet employs them or where that outlet happens to be headquartered.

The Met now finds itself navigating the uncomfortable overlap between community tensions, press freedom, and the conduct of its own volunteer officers. For Soffer, the irony could hardly be thicker: a man tasked with upholding the law, captured on camera behaving in a way that his own force now considers worthy of a professional standards investigation.

If reputation management really is his line of work, this has not been a banner week.

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