A Metropolitan Police officer filmed telling a Jewish woman that swastikas displayed during a pro-Palestinian march in central London needed to be “taken in context” will face no disciplinary action.
A small part of his ten-minute interaction with her in the street was uploaded to social media, sparking anger among antisemitism campaigners.
She was complaining about placards bearing Nazi symbols being carried at Saturday’s protest.
She told him: “I was told when I asked that a swastika was not necessarily antisemitic, that doesn’t seem right to me.”
The PC told her: “I think the symbol in and of itself?”
The woman went on: “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? A swastika in and of itself is not antisemitic?”
The constable was then seen attempting to explain elements of the Public Order Act, but the woman interrupted him saying: “A swastika is a swastika.”
She added: “Under what context is a swastika not disrupting public order? Could you just explain, under what that symbol is not disrupting public order?”
The officer responded: “I haven’t said at any point, have I, that it is or it isn’t? Everything needs to be taken within context, doesn’t it?“
“I do have sympathy for bobbies on the front line who have got to make very difficult decisions."
— LBC (@LBC) April 1, 2024
Labour’s Nick Thomas-Symonds tells @Matthew_Wright that a police officer's remark that 'swastikas need to be taken into context' at a pro-Palestine demo is 'very concerning’. pic.twitter.com/Etjx9U3sGE
The woman continued: “Why is a swastika not immediately antisemitism? Why does it need context? This is what I am confused about.
“In what context is a swastika not antisemitic and disruptive to public order? That is my question.
“I just can’t believe this conversation is actually happening.”
A police spokesman confirmed the officer will face no action over the online clip which was “a short excerpt” of what was a 10-minute exchange.
He added: “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.”
Labour shadow minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said the police officer’s comment was “very concerning”, although he sympathised with public order policing.
He told LBC's Matthew Wright: “I do have sympathy for bobbies on the front line... if someone’s going to make very difficult decisions as to whether you intervene in something and make it worse, or whether you try to stand back.”
The Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “This interaction is absolutely gobsmacking.
”The very notion that a British police officer could imagine a context in which the Nazi swastika is an acceptable image to be displayed in public is distressing enough, but for him to be uncertain about its meaning in the context of a march oozing with anti-Semitic rhetoric and signage is an indictment of the Met.
“This is less the fault of a solitary officer than it is of Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, who has bent over backwards to rationalise and ‘contextualise’ 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 are clear that Nazism is bad.”
Four people were arrested, including one man on suspicion of a terrorism-related offence, as more than 200,000 people took part in the demonstration on Saturday calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Crowds marched from Russell Square to Trafalgar Square and heard speeches from former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and The Crown actor Khalid Abdalla.
