Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has been publicly criticised Green party leader Zack Polanski for sharing an “inaccurate and misinformed” social media post about the way his officers arrested the Golders Green terror suspect. Mr Polanski shared a social media post stating “officers were repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head”.
The move sparked outrage on Thursday morning, with critics claiming it “shows why his Green Party is so dangerous”. It comes as two candidates for the left-wing party were arrested on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred when they allegedly posted anti-Semitic comments online.
Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley lashed out at the Green leader for retweeting an “inaccurate and misinformed” tweet from “armchair critics” of how police had responded to the carnage on the streets of North London.
In a statement at the scene earlier today Sir Mark described the double attempted murder as a “horrendous act of violence” and revealed the motive was anti-Semitism. He also said the suspect had a “history of serious violence and mental health issues”.
In response later reposted by the leader of the Greens, an online critic said: “So essentially his officers were repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head when he was already incapacitated by Taser”.
It led to accusations that Mr Polanski, who has previously said he would like to be the next prime minister, was “more concerned” about the suspected terrorist’s wellbeing than those he is accused of stabbing in the street.
In a public letter released by Scotland Yard tonight, Sir Mark said: “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.”
He added: “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.”
It comes as two candidates for the left-wing party were arrested on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred when they allegedly posted anti-Semitic comments online.
Lambeth council candidates, Saiqa Ali and Sabine Mairey have been detained by the Met Police.
In one post Ms Ali shared an image of an armed Hamas-headband wearing man under a slogan “resistance is freedom”.
Hamas is a terrorist organisation.
Ms Mairaey posted an image of a man holding a placard saying “ramming a synagogue isn’t anti-Semitism, it’s revenge” above a picture of two children that it says have been “murdered by Israel”.
Sir Mark urged the Green Party leader to “not inflame” tensions “by amplifying more ‘us and them’ rhetoric.”
The attacker, who had a history of ‘serious violence’, launched himself at an elderly man next to a bus stop and repeatedly stabbed him.
He also stabbed another man, in his 30s, and charged at “everyone around him”, including police officers.
The victims were last night named as Nachman Moshe ben Chaya Sarah and Moshe Ben Baila. They were said to be stable in hospital last night.
A Green Party spokesperson 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.”