Met police chief praises ‘professional’ conduct of officer in antisemitism row
Exclusive: Mark Rowley says sergeant will not be disciplined and warns of ‘fakery’ by activists at other protests
The commissioner of the Metropolitan police has praised the “professional” conduct of the sergeant who stopped an antisemitism campaigner at a pro-Palestinian march and warned that officers at other protests had been “set up” by activists using “fakery” to undermine the force.
In an interview with the Guardian, Mark Rowley said the sergeant involved in the incident with Gideon Falter would not be disciplined and vigorously defended the Met’s handling of the six months of protests since the 7 October attacks on Israel.
Defying calls for his resignation, Rowley faced a series of crisis meetings on Monday with the two people who could oust him – the home secretary, James Cleverly, and the London mayor, Sadiq Khan – as well as British Jewish groups.
It followed footage emerging of a Met officer telling Falter, of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, that because he was “openly Jewish” he would not be allowed to walk across a pro-Palestinian protest march through central London on 13 April.
A 13-minute video of the exchange shows the officer offering to escort Falter away from the demonstration, and saying he was being disingenuous about his motives for wanting to cross the road at that point.
Speaking just before he went to see the home secretary, Rowley, Britain’s top police officer, said: “The sergeant at the scene clearly assessed that there was a risk of confrontation and was trying to help Mr Falter find a different route. I completely understand why the sergeant made this assessment. A couple of turns of phrase were clumsy and offensive … and we’ve apologised for that.
“The wider actions and intent of the officer were professional and in the best tradition of British police trying to prevent disorder.”
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