A journalist from The Telegraph, Allison Pearson, reports that British police officers visited her home on Remembrance Sunday in connection with a “non-crime hate incident.” The Essex Police force visit related to a tweet she posted a year ago.
Police informed her that the investigation is under section 17 of the Public Order Act 1986, which addresses material allegedly likely or intended to incite racial hatred. She reports she asked, “What did this post I wrote that offended someone say?” but the officers told her they could not tell her. They also refused to answer when she asked who her accuser was—and informed her, “It’s not ‘the accuser.’ They’re called ‘the victim.’”
Pearson described the situation as “Kafkaesque” and proof of two-tier policing in Britain. “We are living through an epidemic of stabbings, burglaries and violent crime… which is not being adequately investigated by the police, yet they had somehow found time to come to my house and intimidate me,” she complained.
Figures reveal a growing number of non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs), with reports rising from 119,934 incidents between 2014 and 2019 to an estimated 250,000 since then, according to the Free Speech Union, which is defending Pearson.
X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk slammed the investigation into Pearson, saying, “This needs to stop.”
