Some Metropolitan Police officers seem intent on proving to the world that they’re incapable of proper thought and rely solely on the bullying they feel the uniform permits. Time and again, London officers have disgraced an institution designed to keep citizens safe. From the truly evil – Wayne Couzen’s murder of Sarah Everard – to the absurdly delinquent – the arrest of a man carrying a placard saying ‘Hamas is terrorist’, which is a mere expression of UK Government policy.
We’ve seen a serial killer, Stephen Port, allowed to murder victims while this force treated deaths of bodies dumped in public at strikingly similar crime scenes as not linked. We’ve seen it forced to apologise to an antisemitism charity leader after an incident near a pro-Palestine protest in which Gideon Falter was told he was “openly Jewish” before being threatened with arrest.
And on Saturday, the Met made forayed into failure once more with the arrest of legendary human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.
His transgression? Demanding that Hamas stop executing Gazans. Tatchell was attending a pro-Palestine rally in central London. He believes Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza. He also happens to oppose Hamas, who govern Gaza, because he’s an actual left-winger.
He carried a sign that said “STOP Israel GENOCIDE! STOP Hamas executions!” and carried a picture of 22-year-old Odai Al-Rubai, whom Hamas tortured and executed.
Odai Al-Rubai was murdered for attending an anti-Hamas protest. It’s impossible to overstate how much bravery his attendance required.
Incapable of any sense of irony, officers arrested Tatchell around Westminster Bridge. They claimed that he had shouted “Hamas are terrorists”. As stupid a reason this would be to arrest somebody, Tatchell says he happens not to have uttered the phrase.
His arrest followed an exchange with members of the vilest strain of so-called pro-Palestinians, who responded to his measured opposition to fascistic executions by telling him “f*** off”, “get out of here” and polished it off with the well-worn “Zionist scum”.
Just as those protesters can’t grasp the fact that one can be against the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza and opposed to Hamas, too many police in our capital are incapable of discerning between a man worthy of arrest and one who is behaving legally.
I confess two interests: I despise Hamas and I like Peter Tatchell. I disagree with him on plenty, including his take on Israel’s war in Gaza. But he’s an incredibly brave and sincere man. His protests, unlike many others, are not a tribal reflex. Hence why he’s perfectly capable of carrying a placard slamming Israel and Hamas.
I spoke to Tatchell some years ago for my book, Easy Kills, concerning the aforementioned Stephen Port case, which had caught his activist eye on account of what many interpreted as Met Police homophobia towards the killer’s victims.
In that tragic case, officers made assumptions about murdered young men found overdosed in public places in Barking, East London.
These assumptions allowed them to see the murders as mere overdoses, despite overwhelming evidence of foul play. And Port was free to kill.
It’s beyond appalling that the same force which took more than a year to spot that serial killer from 2014 to 2015 still hasn’t righted itself.
True, Tatchell’s case isn’t anywhere near as appalling. But it’s a serious violation of free speech rights that are fundamental to the freedoms of a democratic society. And it would be even if he’d actually shouted that Hamas are terrorists.
It’s a validation of the bullying lunacy of those who branded him “Zionist scum” and told him he wasn’t welcome. And, just as with Gideon Falter, it’s the immoral removal of somebody from a protest area for doing nothing illegal.
It’s hard to conclude anything other than that some of the officers the Met now recruits simply want an easy life. Unlike Peter Tatchell, they aren’t brave enough to stand up against the mob. Instead they arrest, or threaten with arrest, those who anger the voices that shout the loudest.
Tatchell’s arrest confirms an idiocy that is rife in the ranks of the Met Police. And it also confirms an idiocy that runs riot through pro-Palestine marches.
Perhaps one day both will be capable of the adult thought evidenced by this eloquent and committed activist. But probably not.
