Essex Police has dropped its investigation into journalist Allison Pearson.
Telegraph journalist Ms Pearson was being investigated for allegedly stirring up racial hatred with a social media post made in November last year.
Two police officers called at her home at 9.40am on Remembrance Sunday and said she was under investigation. They invited her to a voluntary interview.
She claimed that officers told her they were not allowed to let her know the specific focus of the inquiry.
Ms Pearson added that they also refused to tell her any details about which post on social media website X, formerly Twitter, was being investigated. They also couldn’t let her know who made the complaint against her.
But the force denied this version of events, branding it « wholly inaccurate ». They said they did tell her that she was being investigated for inciting racial hatred.
However, the Crown Prosecution Service advised that no charges should be brought against Pearson after reviewing the case – and Essex Police said it would therefore take no further action and the investigation was now closed, reports The Telegraph.
A number of politicians came to Ms Pearson’s defence.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson branded the investigation an “appalling” attack on free speech while Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “This is Orwellian in the extreme. I’m appalled.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said police should « concentrate on what matters most to their communities.”
Ms Pearson said she was not told which tweet had sparked the investigation, but the Guardian reported that the probe concerned a post by the Telegraph columnist on her personal X account last November.
The tweet allegedly being investigated saw Ms Pearson share an image of two people of colour holding the flag of a political party founded by Imran Khan, alongside officers from Greater Manchester police.
Ms Pearson allegedly wrote alongside the image: “How dare they. Invited to pose for a photo with lovely peaceful British Friends of Israel on Saturday police refused. Look at this lot smiling with the Jew haters.”
Ms Pearson appeared to mistake the flag for that of Hamas, the terror group that carried out the brutal October 7 attack in Israel last year.
The complainant who reported Ms Pearson to police told the Guardian that the post was “racist and inflammatory. »
Ms Pearson has denied this.
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