A Met Police In a video shared online, an officer can be seen telling a woman that whether swastikas are antisemitic might depend on the context.
Taken during the pro-Palestine march in London this weekend, the video shows an activist asking officers why a protester showing the Nazi-associated symbol at the rally had not been arrested.
One of the officers says that the swastikas were not necessarily antisemitic or a disruption of public order, with two others refusing to acknowledge its anti-Jewish meanings.
In response, the woman says: ‘If someone is carrying a sign with a swastika, you said you wouldn’t arrest them on the spot, it would have to be investigated online?’
The officers then say that ‘everything needs to be taken in context.’
Shown the video by MailOnline, a spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: ‘This interaction is absolutely gobsmacking.
‘The very idea that a British police officer could imagine a situation in which the Nazi swastika is an acceptable image to be displayed in public is distressing enough, but for him to be unsure about its meaning in the context of a march filled with antisemitic speech and signs is a criticism of the Met.
‘This is less the fault of a single officer than it is of Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, who has tried very hard to rationalise and make excuses for calls for violent Jihad and genocidal chanting.
‘If Sir Mark disagrees with this officer’s assessment, he should come out and say so and explain what training he will provide to his officers to ensure that they understand that Nazism is bad.
But if he agrees that the swastika is context-dependent, let him tell that to the hundreds of thousands of Britons who gave their lives to prevent that despicable symbol from ever being flown on the streets of London.’
The Met Police has since issued a statement that reads: ‘We’re aware of an online clip from today’s protest in central London showing an interaction between an officer and a woman during which there is an exchange over concern around protestors displaying offensive banners, including swastikas.
‘The online clip is a short excerpt of what was a 10-minute conversation with the officer. During the full conversation, the officer establishes that the person the woman was concerned about had already been arrested for a public order offence in relation to a placard.
‘The officer then offered to arrange for other officers to attend and accompany the woman to identify any other persons she was concerned about amongst the protestors, but after turning to speak to his supervisor, she then unfortunately left.
‘We take hate crime and public order offences very seriously and a number of people were arrested during today’s protest for hate crimes, public order and terrorist offences. We are also gathering and assessing evidence with a view to making further arrests where we identify any other offences.'
The Met stated: ”We are very concerned about hate crime and public order violations and several individuals were detained during today’s demonstration for hate crimes, public order, and terrorist activities.
‘We are also collecting and evaluating evidence to potentially make more arrests if we find any other crimes. If anyone has knowledge of other evidence of people displaying offensive banners or material, please inform us’
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