Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley slammed Green Party leader Zack Polanski for “intervening in operational policing” over his “misinformed” criticism of the arrest made following the horror double stabbing in Golders Green.
Mr Polanski was criticised for sharing a post on social media suggesting that the police used excessive force when detaining the suspect during the north London terror attack.
Two Jewish men, named as Nachman Moshe ben Chaya Sarah and Moshe Ben Baila, were stabbed near a bus stop just after 11.15am on Wednesday after a man with a knife was seen running down the high street.
After footage of the suspect’s arrest was shared online, Mr Polanski reposted a tweet that referred to Sir Mark Rowley, which read: “So essentially his officers were repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head when he was already incapacitated by a Taser.”
Responding to the criticism, Sir Mark wrote a public letter to the Green Party leader saying he was “disappointed” by the repost, which he labelled “inaccurate” and “misinformed”.
He said it had a “casual disregard for the incredibly challenging and dangerous work police officers do to protect the public”.
“It is entirely possible the author of the post you retweeted had direct experience from the scene, or has years of experience handling complex, violent situation[s],” he said in a public statement to Mr Polanski.
“Yet I suspect the more likely scenario is that they [are] another armchair critic, who thinks they could do the job, possibly more effectively than the brave officers who successfully detained that individual.
“Those officers are nothing short of extraordinary. They were on the scene within a few minutes, and their actions undoubtedly prevented further injury and saved lives.”
On Friday, the Met chief doubled down on his criticism of Mr Polanski, telling Times Radio his officers “were frightened and they were acting according to that”.
“I need officers to feel they've got public confidence when they're doing things like that,” he said.
Sir Mark added: “Of course there's always going to be inaccuracies and nonsense on social media, but I think when somebody influential puts something out there which is incorrect and can undermine the confidence of my officers to protect Londoners, they need to see that I'm supporting them to give them that confidence to carry on and do their job.”
Body-worn footage, published by Met Police, showed the moment a suspect was Tasered and arrested following the attack.
The video shows two officers surrounding the man and ordering him to “get down on the ground”.
When he refuses, their commands become more urgent, with one officer shouting “Taser Taser get down on the ground”.
Moments later, the suspect falls to the ground as one officer moves to remove what appears to be a knife from his hand.
During the struggle, the officer is seen kicking at the weapon while a member of the public steps in to assist.
At the same time, the second officer can be heard shouting “drop the knife, drop the f***ing knife”.
The weapon is then removed and the man is arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
On his decision to write a letter to the leader of the Green Party, Sir Mark said: "I'm not intervening in politics. He was intervening in operational policing.”
In his letter, the Met Commissioner said: “The officers confronted a dangerous man, they believed to be a terrorist, who refused to show his hands, who was violent, and who continued to pose a clear threat.
“They were not armed officers, and they feared he was concealing an explosive device.
“Using only their training, equipment and a substantial level of bravery and courage, they detained him while he continued to try and attack and stab them. Without their efforts to stop him I dread to think what the outcome could have been.
“Apprehending violent and dangerous criminals is a full contact and messy task which may appear shocking to observers with little experience of policing in the real world.
“London’s Jewish communities are scared. They have experienced a series of targeted attacks on the community, and they expect our officers to act, protect them. That is exactly what our officers did yesterday. Your decision to criticise these officers, using your public profile and reach will have a chilling effect.
“Officers need to know that when they act to protect Londoners decisively, they will be supported. Officers know they must be accountable for their use of force and there are processes for this to happen. Your use of your public profile to call their actions into question, hours after a terrorist incident is not the appropriate route.
“Free speech is an important facet of a democratic society. We both agree on that. But against a backdrop of global instability and heightened tensions, the right approach in this situation is to show compassion, lower tensions and not inflame them further by amplifying more ‘us and them’ rhetoric.
“We have significantly stepped up our activity across the capital in recent weeks, and in the hours and days following the attack in Golders Green three weeks ago we have seen communities come together to reject hatred and violence.”
A Green Party spokesman said: "Zack has seen the video like everyone else, and doesn't know the full picture and knows it was a very difficult situation for the authorities, but we do need to understand more about the response.”
Essa Suleiman, 45, a British national born in Somalia, has been charged with attempted murder.
