Cops using notorious anonymous pro-Israel accounts for evidence against anti-genocide marchers

Met told court in trial of Marieha Hussain that it is letting right-wing troll accounts that created ‘Labour antisemitism’ smear guide its policing and prosecutions

The Metropolitan Police has told the court that it has used “anonymous right-wing” accounts to target pro-Palestine marches in London. The court was trying the case of Marieha Hussain, who was charged with a ‘racially-aggravated public order offence’ for a sign she held up during a protest depicting Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman, both ardent supporters of Israel during its ongoing genocide in Gaza, as coconuts. Ms Hussain was acquitted today.

The Met’s ‘senior media and communications manager, Chris Humphreys, told the court yesterday that the force had used the ‘social commentary’ of ‘Harry’s Place’ and other anonymous right-wing accounts to inform its targeting of pro-Palestine protesters:

Images come to our attention when the Met’s own social media account has been tagged. Other ways images come to our attention is when accounts that frequently post protest-related images appear that warrant a potential investigation, or when images posted get a ‘significant response’ with a significant number of views.

Ms Hussain’s barrister asked Humphreys how the Harry’s Place site influenced its policing decision to find Hussain and prosecute her for holding the coconut sign. Humphreys confirmed that the site had instigated the investigation and acknowledged that it is an anonymous blog. He was challenged by the lawyer:

Are you aware that Harry’s Place is a secretive political blog headquartered in Washington DC that has a particular interest in opposing any criticism of the Israeli State?

The so-called ‘Harry’s place’ is a right-wing site that played a prominent role in creating and spreading the fake ‘Labour antisemitism’ moral panic when Jeremy Corbyn was the party’s leader. It has gone as far as to challenge even the notion that Islamophobia exists, rejecting the definition created by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Islamophobia and questioning the idea that it is racist to ‘target Muslims’. It also stated singled out Islam as ‘especially’ ‘infiltrates and contaminates’ Britain’s legal processes – a claim that would be dismissed as grossly antisemitic if written about Jews or Judaism:

The premise underpinning the new definition is that it is essentially racist to target Muslims… …The law must be separated from religion – especially Islam – not infiltrated and contaminated by it.

Harry’s Place blog, 2021

The site has been criticised by Muslim groups as ‘anti-Muslim‘ and as an ‘inspiration‘ for the far-right, so-called ‘English Defence League’ (EDL). It was described by human rights group CAGE International as part of the ‘Islamophobia industry’.

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