Journalist at centre of media and police row over ‘racist’ tweet
Police were sent to Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson’s home on Remembrance Sunday over a “non-crime hate incident”. Officers said it involved a social media post written a year ago.
They told Ms Pearson a complaint had been made to police in relation to a post on X, formerly Twitter, and she was invited to a voluntary interview.
Writing in the Telegraph on Wednesday, Ms Pearson said officers were unable to explain the nature of the allegedly offending post or provide the identity of the complainant.
She claims to have told them, “How am I supposed to defend myself, then?
“The two policemen exchanged glances. Clearly, the Kafkaesque situation made no sense to them, either. This is supposed to be 2024, not 1984, yet the police officers seemed to be operating according to the George Orwell operational manual.”
Today, the Guardian published a piece claiming to have found the original post.
It is supposedly a retweet by Pearson of a photograph posted several months ago amid heightened tensions over the policing of Gaza protests. It shows a group of people of colour posing with a flag on a British street in Manchester, surrounded by three police officers.
Pearson condemned the Met police, writing, “How dare they. Invited to pose for a photo with lovely peaceful British Friends of Israel on Saturday police refused. Look at this lot smiling with the Jew haters.”
However, the officers pictured are from Greater Manchester police and not the London Met.
The Guardian wrote, “The person who complained is not Muslim nor one of those pictured. They are a former public servant with training in criminal law. They wish to stay anonymous, fearing reprisals, especially from far-right elements, but told the Guardian the post by Pearson was “racist and inflammatory” – which she denies.”
They added, “Pearson tweeted something that had nothing to do with Palestine or the London protests: she tweeted a picture of two persons of colour holding a flag of a Pakistani political party standing next to some GMP officers … Her description of the two people of colour as Jew haters is racist and inflammatory.”
Further quoted in the Guardian, the complainant said, “As a former public servant, I was concerned about the tweet that Pearson put out last year so much so that I reported it to the police … I have no political affiliation and will call out racism, antisemitism and Islamophobia when I see it.
“This is not a debate about free speech; this is about a journalist who tweeted something false during the height of the tensions in London following the 7 October atrocities. She could have tweeted an apology stating she was wrong. She didn’t.
I am not a leftwing activist, I am a member of the public shocked by her original tweet, and her recent doubling down is not helping.”
Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza last year, the Telegraph (amongst may other far-right tabloids) have been overtly anti-Palestine and accused protestors calling for a ceasefire or supporting Palestine as openly antisemitic.
Let’s take a look at how the media covered Pearson’s police visit. I wonder how many angry right-wing columnists have actually read The Trial…which is actually an excellent winter read.
Exclusive: Person who complained tells Guardian that columnist’s ‘Jew haters’ post was inflammatory
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The Times view on non-crime hate incidents: Wasting Police Time
