By Tony O’Reilly-
Suella Braverman is set to question Sir Mark Rowley regarding his force’s response during the protest, particularly the lack of arrests made when some demonstrators chanted “jihad” at the rally on Saturday.
She intends to convey that there is no place for incitement, hatred, or violence on British streets and would urge him to take action against anyone breaking the law.
During their meeting, Sir Mark was prepared to strongly defend his officers’ decision, arguing that the protesters could not be prosecuted under existing legislation. He would deny that the police acted in an “ad-hoc way without following legislation.”
Ken Marsh, the chair of the Met Police Federation representing rank-and-file officers, expressed the challenges the police faced when trying to extract individuals from a crowd of 100,000.
He noted that what the protesters were shouting did not constitute a criminal offense. Marsh also pointed out that individuals have the power to make citizen’s arrests.
The police overseeing the crowd were joined by senior CPS lawyers to determine if any offenses had been committed. Some of the demonstrators called for “Muslim armies” to launch a jihad to “liberate Palestine.” However, the Met highlighted that the term “jihad” has multiple meanings.
Sir Mark planned to emphasize the operational independence of the police during his meeting with Braverman. Although the meeting was initially scheduled to discuss ongoing protests and combatting anti-Semitism, Braverman intended to use it to inquire about Sir Mark’s views on his force’s response to the Saturday incident.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper expressed his concerns about the footage from the weekend, deeming it “disturbing.” He stated that the Home Secretary would emphasize the government’s belief that the full force of the law should be utilized.
A video posted on social media depicted the main speaker inquiring about the solution to liberate people from what he called the “concentration camp called Palestine.” An individual standing nearby could be heard chanting “jihad.” The Met confirmed that they had spoken to the man involved.
The Community Security Trust, a Jewish safety organization, criticized the Met, suggesting that they appeared to legitimize hateful behavior. Mayor Sadiq Khan assured that strong action would be taken if anyone was found to have broken the law.