A man in the United Kingdom was arrested by Metro London Police late on Tuesday night after posting a video to social media criticizing dozens of Palestinian flags flying in his neighborhood. British authorities have charged the unidentified man with a racially aggravated public order offense, provoking widespread criticism amid increasing social tensions over the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The video at the center of the controversy was posted to Facebook shortly before the arrest. The cellphone camera footage records the alleged “racist” aggressively denouncing the “kind of s**t that’s going on” in his Bethnal Green neighborhood in London’s East End. Zooming in on individual Palestinian flags hung from light poles and street signs and strands of smaller flags decorating the buildings, the cameraman remarks, “Let them into the country and this is the kind of s**te they come up with.”
The video was not widely seen until it was paired with related footage taken just before 10:00 p.m. on the night of October 31, when uniformed police officers arrived to arrest the flag critic. The furiously protesting suspect was placed in handcuffs and escorted out to a police van in front of his distraught wife, who informed officers that she was a stage-four cancer patient.
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The Metro London Police posted a statement to X addressing the video, stating that the man had been arrested “on suspicion of a racially aggravated Section 5 public order offence.”
“We take all allegations of hate crime incredibly seriously,” the department continued. “Where offences have taken place, our officers are attending, supporting victims and making arrests – and we will continue to do so.”
This video shows the arrest of a man on suspicion of a racially aggravated Section 5 public order offence.
The arrested man was taken to an east London police station where he remains at this time.
We take all allegations of hate crime incredibly seriously. Where offences…— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) November 1, 2023
Section 5 offenses, as established by England’s Public Order Act of 1986, include any behavior that is likely to cause harassment, alarm, or distress to others. Maximum penalties for such offenses include up to six months in prison and/or an unlimited fine.
In light of recent pro-Palestine marches that took place throughout the UK–and the West more broadly—many are accusing the Metro London Police of misaligned priorities.
— A (@AhmedB100) October 28, 2023
Critics argue that greater attention should be given to anti-Semitic rhetoric and rising urban crime rather than arresting citizens for offenses as minor as insulting foreign flags. However, police departments throughout the UK maintain that they are responding to all threats appropriately, ensuring that minorities are protected—though “minority” may be something of a misnomer given 2022 census data showing White Britons are no longer a majority in London and other major cities.
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