Peer blasts Met over the ‘openly Jewish’ row

A PEER who led a review into the Metropolitan Police yesterday blasted its handling of a protest, asking ‘Can it get any worse if you’re Jewish?’

Baroness Casey said her ‘heart sank’ when she heard that an anti-Semitism campaigner was threatened with arrest at a pro-Palestinian march for being ‘openly Jewish’.

Ms Casey, who led a review into Scotland Yard after Sarah Everard was murdered by an officer in March 2021, warned that Jewish people living in London feel afraid.

She compared the protest incident on April 13 with the way officers handled a vigil in Miss Everard’s memory in 2021, when mourners were dragged away for breaching Covid rules.

Speaking to The Times Crime and Justice Commission, Ms Casey said she was horrified by the treatment of Gideon Falter, of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, who was told by an officer that his presence was ‘antagonising’ demonstrators.

She said: ‘Can it get any worse if you’re Jewish and live in London? A Jewish man is told he can’t walk down the street and I thought, “Oh my God”.’

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley faces calls to quit over the incident, with more than 10,000 people signing a petition. He will meet Jewish groups today to discuss their demands for fewer pro-Palestinian protests to be allowed in London.