Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley today said that he will not allow ‘misinformed’ people like Greens leader Zack Polanski to ‘undermine’ the hero officers who brought down the Golders Green suspect.
The head of Scotland Yard has revealed he has met the police officers who arrested Essa Suleiman in north London and they were ‘shaken’ because they feared he may have had a bomb.
Defending their response as perfectly acceptable in the circumstances, and doubling down on his criticism of Polanski, he said: ‘Unless you’ve been in that moment where you’re scared stiff and you’re confronting somebody so dangerous, it’s hard to put yourself in that situation’.
Sir Mark wrote a letter to Mr Polanski on Thursday accusing him of spouting ‘misinformed’ rhetoric when he shared a post on X that claimed the two policemen were ‘violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head’.
‘I need my officers to have confidence to tackle the most difficult and dangerous individuals’, the police chief said on TV this morning.
‘If an eminent person wants to thoughtlessly step into that and undermine their confidence to act that then I’m going to deal with that’, he said this morning.
Left wing Your Party MP for Coventry South, Zarah Sultana, accused the police chief of having a ‘brass neck’, adding: ‘As Commissioner, Mark Rowley’s job is to serve the public, not to make political attacks’.
Sir Mark said: ‘I’m not intervening in politics. He was intervening in operational policing. He has stepped into operational policing with his criticism and inaccuracies and I need to put that straight’.
Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley today said that he will not allow ‘misinformed’ people like Greens leader Zack Polanski to ‘undermine’ the hero officers who brought down the Golders Green suspect
Bodycam footage of the horrifying incident in Golders Green shows the alleged terrorist walk towards officers while refusing to drop the knife, they bravely stepped in to stop him
Terror suspect Essa Suleiman, a British national born in Somalia, was tasered and arrested while carrying the blade and a backpack.
Sir Mark said that officers did not know if he was carrying explosives in his bag or heavy coat, on top of Suleiman refusing to drop his knife,
Asked if the officers’ behaviour was ‘acceptable’, Sir Mark Rowley told LBC on Friday morning: ‘I sat down with the officers on Wednesday afternoon, a couple of hours after the attack, and you could still see they were shaken.
‘They’d taken on a terrorist, and as that incident developed they were afraid, because he didn’t comply at all, even after being dropped to the floor by a taser, they were afraid that he might have an explosive device on him from the way he’s behaving, he didn’t in the end, and of course they used a lot of force.
‘I’m not interested in politics but if somebody eminent, rather than some of the oddballs on social media, if someone eminent says something or does something which I see has a risk to undermining the confidence of my officers to act – because they need that sense of public support – they now need to intervene on that, and that’s what I did with that letter.’
Sir Mark said in a letter to Mr Polanski he was ‘disappointed’, adding that the post was ‘inaccurate and misinformed’.
Asked if it was ‘necessary’ to kick the 45-year-old man in the head during the arrest, Sir Mark Rowley said of the officers: ‘They’re using the force that they seem (sic) necessary.
‘Unless you’ve been in that moment where you’re scared stiff and you’re confronting somebody so dangerous, it’s hard to put yourself in that situation.
‘They’re desperately concerned about stunning him and sort of neutralising him.’
Sir Mark said ‘everybody should reflect on the levels of antisemitic attitudes in society’ after two Jewish men were stabbed.
It comes after the UK terrorism threat level was raised to ‘severe’ by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre on Thursday, meaning a terror attack is ‘highly likely’.
Asked about what people should do in reaction to the threat level being raised, Sir Mark Rowley told LBC on Friday morning: ‘It’s two things. There’s the practical about being alert, so don’t be alarmed, don’t be afraid, but be alert and help us by giving us information.
‘Secondly, I think everybody should reflect on the levels of antisemitic attitudes in society and we should all call it out, because these are British Jews.
‘Israeli foreign policy, however much you may like or dislike that, that is not relevant in terms of attitudes to British Jews, who should be treated like any other British citizen.’
The Golders Green terror suspect has today been charged with the attempted murder of two Jewish men.
Essa Suleiman, 45, a Somali-born British national, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
He is accused of two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a bladed article in a public place in relation to the Golders Green attack in north London on Wednesday.
Suleiman was today also charged with attempted murder in relation to a separate and earlier incident on the same day in Great Dover Street, south London.
A man was stabbed but suffered minor injuries around two hours before the Golders Green attack began.
Footage of his arrest has made headlines around the world.
Mr Polanski shared a tweet on X that said the two officers were acting ‘violently’ towards the man who stabbed Shloime Rand, 34, and Moshe Shine, 76.
In the post shared by the Greens leader, an online critic said: ‘So essentially his officers were repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head when he was already incapacitated by Taser.’
Zack Polanski has retweeted a post suggesting hero policemen who disarmed the Golders Green terrorist were heavy handed
Mr Polanski, pictured speaking to activists and supporters during the Green Party Big Day Out, on April 25 has been criticised for the retweet
It led to accusations that Mr Polanski was ‘more concerned’ about the suspected terrorist’s wellbeing than those he is accused of stabbing.
Sir Mark then fired off a strongly worded public letter blasting the politician for showing a ‘casual disregard for the incredibly challenging and dangerous work police officers do to protect the public’.
‘I am disappointed because it is this kind of inaccurate and misinformed commentary… that is contributing to the rising tensions we are seeing in society and undermines officer confidence to act,’ he wrote.
‘Apprehending violent and dangerous criminals is a full contact and messy task which may appear shocking to observers with little experience of policing in the real world.’
He added: ‘Your decision to criticise these officers, using your public profile and reach will have a chilling effect.’
Polanski has been widely criticised for his intervention.
Tory MP Neil O’Brien said: ‘As usual, the Greens’ sympathies are with the terrorist rather than the brave police officers stopping him.’ Labour’s Jonathan Hinder tweeted: ‘This is so telling. Polanski hates the brave police officers who stopped this.
‘He’s more concerned about the anti-Semitic terrorist with a knife in his hand! Isn’t that right, Zack Polanski?’ Home Office minister Mike Tapp said he was ‘disgusted’ and claimed that the ‘Green Party has hit a new low’.
Labour MP David Taylor added: ‘Zack Polanski’s sympathy for a marauding anti-Semitic terrorist rather than his victims shows why his Green Party is so dangerous.
‘How can anyone watch that video from Golders Green and not feel proud of the way those brave police officers wrestled with the attacker who would not let go of his knife?’
The Daily Mail asked Mr Polanski to comment.
JK Rowling criticised the Greens Party’s leadership for failing to mention Jewish in their statements
After the terror attack, he wrote on social media: ‘Horrendous attack in Golders Green. Thinking of the victims, their families and everyone who will once again be shaken by this attack. Thank you to all of those involved with the emergency response.’
His deputy leader Mothin Ali said: ‘Devastating news from Golders Green this morning. My prayers are with everyone affected. We are in debt to the emergency services, including Hatzola, for their immediate response.’
Their responses were criticised by author J K Rowling because they failed to mention that the victims were Jewish.
The Harry Potter creator said: ‘Why do leaders of the Greens have such difficulty naming the particular demographic likely to be most ‘shaken’ and ‘affected’ by two men from their community having their throats cut on a London street?’ It came as Mr Ali encouraged legal action against his own party after local election candidates were dismissed and suspended after being accused of anti-Semitism. Mr Ali reportedly told a Greens for Palestine group that the individuals should seek out ‘serious legal advice’.
Several Green candidates have been suspended after alleged historic anti-Semitic comments.
