British home secretary reported to police for 'hate crime, threat and intimidation’

By Mehmet Solmaz

BIRMINGHAM, England (AA) - A political activist from north London reported Home Secretary Suella Braverman to Metropolitan Police for “hate crime, threat and intimidation” for remarks in which she targeted pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

Alec Turner told Anadolu that he joined a protest along with 4,000 demonstrators Oct. 9 outside the Israeli Embassy.

“The home secretary's response to that demonstration was that the police should be investigating people waving the Palestinian flag for glorifying terrorism in support of Hamas. As I was on that demonstration, I thought, ‘OK, you're picking me, you're you're looking at me, you're looking at everyone.’”

Frustrated with Braverman’s labeling protesters as suspected terrorism supporters, Turner said the home secretary’s words were classifying him and all others there as glorifying terrorism, which he describes as a “hate crime.”

Turner attended another mass protest during the weekend.

“After that demonstration, the home secretary said I think the police should be investigating all those people who were chanting: ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ claiming the slogan demands Israel to be wiped off from the face of the earth,” he said.

For pro-Palestinian activists, Braverman is twisting the meaning of the slogan. Turner said the home secretary’s responses to the protests were “pointing and effectively diverting hatred towards us. She's putting it out there in society. She's pointing the finger and saying these people are hateful, accusing of anti-Semitism without using the words.”

“The next day she went further, and she said the police are coming for you,” he said. “In my reports to police, I said I find these comments intimidating and threatening and without any justification.”

Braverman issued a warning to police chiefs last week regarding the display of Palestinian flags on British streets.

In a letter to chief constables in England and Wales, she suggested that waving the flag "may not be legitimate” and considered a crime, depending on the context.

Metropolitan Police initially requested that Turner go to a local police station for an interview regarding his complaint.

Minutes after the interview began, he received a telephone call in which an officer said: “The desk sergeant has decided there is no crime to investigate.”

Turner was advised to make a complaint to his MP in north London, who appears to be David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary.

Lammy has refused to answer if he supports Israel’s orders to Gaza residents to leave the north and head south.

Many Labour Party members and councilors submitted their resignations after the party’s leadership failed to condemn civilian killings in Gaza.

Labour leader Keir Starmer said Israel had a “right” to cut power and water to Palestinians in Gaza.

Turner said he is not surprised with the response he received from police but will not stop filing complaints when similar incidents occur.

“I'll be going on demonstration on Saturday. I will look out very carefully for any members of the government saying and I'll file another report,” he said.