Essex Police defended their actions after Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson said she was “shocked” after visiting her home on Remembrance Sunday in a social media post.
Officers visited Pearson as part of an investigation into allegations of inciting racial hatred, following a complaint from a member of the public, the force said.
In one article, Pearson said police who went to his home told him it was a “non-criminal hate incident” but did not tell him what the post was. there
The force said “at no time” did its officers say the investigation was related to a “non-criminal hate incident”.
A non-criminal hate incident is one in which no crime has been committed but the person reporting it believes the incident is motivated by hostility.
In a statement, Essex Police said officers “went to a residential address to arrange a meeting to interview a female regarding a complaint made by a member of the public.”
“At no time during the brief interaction between the woman and our officers was she informed that the report under investigation was being treated as a non-criminal hate incident. To suggest otherwise is completely inaccurate and misleading.
“As the public would expect, we have video of this interaction on a body that fully supports our position on this.”
- Warning: This article contains language that may be offensive to some people.
In her article, Pearson said she had not been told what publication the complaint was about, but “a year ago, she was consumed by the product from The attacks on October 7 by Hamas.” and slogans celebrated in professional Palestinian marches.
The BBC looked at the now deleted post from November 16 last year. It shows an image of two police officers standing next to two men holding what appears to be the flag of Pakistan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) political party.
The post tags the Metropolitan Police along with the words “How dare they?”
He said: “The police on Saturday refused an invitation to pose for a photo with the beautiful and peaceful British Friends of Israel. Look at this group laughing at the Jew haters.”
X added a disclaimer to the post saying the statue was taken in Manchester, not London, and is “not associated with Palestine”.
“I was definitely surprised.”
Pearson said when the police showed up at his house last Sunday morning, he was surprised.
“I was definitely in shock. surprise That too. boring How could I not be?” he said, saying he felt an “instinctive surge of anger. Non-crime, what the hell?”
The force has since lodged a complaint with the regulator the Independent Press Standards Organization (Ipso) about the Telegraph’s reporting of the incident.
The Metropolitan Police told the BBC that the original complaint was made by a member of the public on November 18 last year.
The force said it was contacted by a member of the public on social media who “wanted to allege that a post on X was a possible hate crime”.
He said the allegation was registered but not investigated and then sent to Sussex police on November 22, as the complainant lived in that county. Sussex Police then took him to Essex Police.
Controversy about freedom of expression
A number of political figures have supported Pearson, including Shadow Inside Secretary Chris Philp and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and a debate has broken out about free speech.
Richard Tice, chairman of the Reform UK party, told the BBC that the Telegraph columnist was “horrified and horrified” by the police visit.
He also called on the chief constable of Essex Police to apologize to Pearson or risk bringing the force into disrepute.
The Home Office has already been examining how forces review non-criminal hate incidents in balance with the right to freedom of expression.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office said: “Ultimately, it is important that the police can capture data relating to non-criminal hate incidents…
“This needs to be balanced with the fundamental right to freedom of expression and also to ensure that the police can spend their time dealing with the issues most important to our communities.”
The BBC has contacted the Daily Telegraph for comment.
2024-11-16 00:09:00
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