Telegraph journalist gets “hate incident” visit from police over year-old tweet

A journalist with the London Telegraph has been visited unannounced at her home by police in the UK who told her they are investigating a “non-crime hate incident” over a tweet she posted a year ago.

(Article by Steve Watson republished from Modernity.news)

Yes, really.

Allison Pearson relates what happened on Sunday in an article, noting that police will not tell her which post is the subject of the investigation, nor will they tell her who her accuser is or what they feel offended about.

I respect the police who do a v difficult job, but 2 coppers turning up at my house on Remembrance Sunday over a year-old tweet – they won’t tell me what it said – erodes public confidence.
This is a free society and law-abiding people should not be pursued for “wrong think”.… https://t.co/K6vJGZmxDA

— Allison Pearson (@AllisonPearson) November 13, 2024

The only detail given was that it is some sort of accusation of “racial hatred”.

‘If you guess your crime right do they have to tell you?’@andrewdoyle_com @joshxhowie @CareyMarx

Telegraph writer in ‘Kafkaesque’ hate crime enquiry | Telegraph pic.twitter.com/LhQbmGwGsS

— GB News (@GBNEWS) November 13, 2024

The police also made it clear that she should refer to her accuser as a “victim”.

? @AllisonPearson reveals how police officers called at her home on Remembrance Sunday to tell her of inquiry into year-old social media post

Find out more ?https://t.co/S63MCOk6UJ pic.twitter.com/jM9q79zhzQ

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) November 12, 2024

The Telegraph notes that Essex Police said on Tuesday night that officers had opened an investigation under section 17 of the Public Order Act 1986 relating to material allegedly “likely or intended to cause racial hatred”.

A police spokesman said “We’re investigating a report passed to us by another force. The report relates to a social media post which was subsequently removed. An investigation is now being carried out under section 17 of the Public Order Act.”

Pearson charges that the visit is “living proof of a two tier justice system,” and describes the incident as “Kafkaesque.”

I’ve just caught up with this by @AllisonPearson. Fortunately, she is a member of the Free @SpeechUnion, but I hope the @Telegraph will also be vigorously defending her freedom of expression. The ‘non-crime hate incident’ industry is a malignancy.https://t.co/iLsuNX4MgQ pic.twitter.com/yf0Cr2f0Vr

— Adrian Hilton (@Adrian_Hilton) November 12, 2024

An all new level of dystopian hell. Very hard to see how charging someone with a ‘non-crime’ hate incident whilst refusing to disclose to them any further details can possibly be consistent with basic principles of natural justice.

As @AllisonPearson makes clear in her powerful… pic.twitter.com/aVNmAmdRrC

— Molly Kingsley (@lensiseethrough) November 13, 2024

Figures show that between 2014 and 2019, 34 police forces across England and Wales recorded 119,934 NCHIs.

The Free Speech Union believes this has doubled in the five years since to over 250,000—an average of 66 recorded per day.

They found that, in the year since Suella Braverman’s revised guidance, NCHIs were recorded 0.4% more—11,690, up from 11,642, in the year from June 2023 to 2024.

X owner Elon Musk commented on the incident, urging simply “this has to stop.”

This needs to stop https://t.co/wvwxkHvVMT

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 13, 2024

Don’t the police have some actual crime to work on?

Amid the stabbings, machete attacks, unsolved thefts and street robberies the police knock on Allison’s door about a tweet. Totally dysfunctional… https://t.co/MKPco8Nmrt

— William Clouston SDP (@WilliamClouston) November 13, 2024

Yes, turns out they have quite a lot to work on.

On Sunday, Essex police showed up at @AllisonPearson’s front door to tell her that they were investigating her for allegedly stirring up racial hatred in a social media post LAST YEAR.

Below is the Essex Police’s track record of solving crimes.

Do you see the problem?… pic.twitter.com/3etLyBWRGV

— Alex Armstrong (@alexharmstrong) November 13, 2024

In addition to this, people are being criminally targeted and even imprisoned in the UK for social media posts.

Read more at: Modernity.news