LONDON

The man who insulted Al Jazeera journalists covering developments following an arson attack in north London was a Metropolitan Police special constable, according to reports Thursday.

A group of journalists covering an arson attack targeting Hatzola ambulances, a Jewish community-run service, on Monday, were surrounded by a crowd who told them to "go home."

Footage showed the man calling them "you donkey, you dog" in Arabic, as first reported by investigative outlet Declassified UK.

The Metropolitan Police later confirmed the man was David Soffer, a special constable with the force. The BBC reported that the incident was referred to the police's professional standards team for assessment.

Soffer also called one of the team a dog in Hebrew and warned another person nearby not to be violent, according to the report. He has since removed "special constable" from his LinkedIn page.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: "Freedom of the press is important and journalists must be able to do their job without being subject to intimidation or harassment."

"Officers did intervene but we recognize that there was an extended period where the journalists were put in a difficult situation which led them to leave the area," it added.