Police question woman who wore ‘concentration camp prisoner' outfit at protest
Images of the protester, whose identity the police have not disclosed, circulated on social media, showing the woman dressed in striped clothes, hat and face mask.
Yellow symbols depicting the crescent moon and star of Islam were sewn on to the shirt and hat, and the protester held a sign with the hashtag 'We Are All Palestine Action'.
The Met Police said in a post on X that the woman was questioned on Friday.
'Images were shared this week showing a woman at protests wearing clothing imitating that worn by those held in concentration camps during the Holocaust,' they said.
UPDATE: Images were shared this week showing a woman at protests wearing clothing imitating that worn by those held in concentration camps during the Holocaust.
This afternoon she was interviewed under caution at a central London police station.
Our investigation continues.
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) June 27, 2025
'This afternoon she was interviewed under caution at a central London police station.
'Our investigation continues.'
Alex Hearn, co-director of Labour Against Antisemitism (LAAS), described the outfit as 'a blatant act of antisemitism' and criticised Met Police officers who oversaw the demonstration for failing to take immediate action.
'This was a blatant act of antisemitism that has caused distress and upset to many people in the Jewish community in Britain,' Mr Hearn said.
'The Holocaust is not a costume.
'We are glad that the police are now taking action but the question remains why police officers at this protest and outside Parliament did not act on the spot.'
Mr Hearn added: 'Time and again these so-called protesters display racist hatred and contempt for Jews in front of police officers, but it is only when the Jewish community publicly calls this out and demands action that the police engage.'
The Metropolitan Police have declined to answer further questions.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Monday that she has decided to proscribe Palestine Action and will lay an order before Parliament next week which, if passed, will make membership and support for the protest group illegal.
Belonging to or expressing support for a proscribed organisation, along with a number of other actions, are criminal offences carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
The decision comes after the group posted footage online showing two people inside the base at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
The clip shows one person riding an electric scooter up to an Airbus Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker and appearing to spray paint into its jet engine.
On Monday, a march took place in support of Palestine Action in central London, during which clashes between the police and some protesters led to 13 arrests for alleged offences including assaulting an emergency worker, obstructing a constable and breaching Public Order Act conditions, the Metropolitan Police previously said.
Palestine Action has staged a series of demonstrations in recent months, including spraying the London offices of Allianz Insurance with red paint over its alleged links to Israeli defence company Elbit, and vandalising US President Donald Trump's Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire, Scotland.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Palestine Action are not terrorists. The RAF is just grossly incompetent
One can see why the Government is proposing to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation. That anyone could enter the RAF base at Brize Norton, one of the most significant we have, and smear red paint on planes was deeply humiliating. Once, the commanding officer of the base would have resigned immediately; the security officer would have been moved to the cookhouse, if he was lucky; and the Defence Secretary would have offered his resignation. But no-one resigns these days, so branding the intruders 'terrorists', as if they were some ruthless group trained to outwit military professionals, with death and destruction their aim, makes them sound all the more formidable, and their victims all the more helpless. It is an unconvincing cover for the sort of grotesque incompetence that characterises our public sector and public services. That was the RAF; the next day it was the Metropolitan Police unable to prevent an epidemic of daylight robbery on the streets of the West End; the next NHS maternity services that humiliate and degrade women giving birth. What Palestine Action, however organised and bonkers and loathsome they are, did was not terrorism: it was vandalism. You might as well call football hooligans terrorists, or the groups of louts who on hot summer evenings riot because they are bored and the police upset them by seeking to restore order. Terrorism is a truly abhorrent, lethal, wicked and repulsive thing: chucking paint over planes and ridiculing the RAF and the Government in the process does not even begin to compare with it. This devaluation of a word with a precise meaning is highly dangerous. Lord (Toby) Young, in his excellent work for the Free Speech Union, has disclosed that Prevent – the increasingly preposterous, Left-leaning body that tries to stop terrorism at its roots – has done research that suggests 'red flags' for spotting potential far-right terrorists are people who like, among other things, Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, GK Chesterton's poems, The Bridge On the River Kwai, The Dam Busters and Yes, Minister. Where do I give myself up? Many of us remember real terrorism, perpetrated by real terrorists: the Birmingham and Guildford Bombings; the Hyde Park Bombings; murders in Manchester, both by the IRA in 1992 and 1996 and, a generation later, an Islamic extremist who killed 22 at the city's Arena in 2017; the massacre on 7/7, which killed 52 innocent people in 2005; and if that's not enough, Lockerbie. I could go on. Does all that utter horror compare with exposing the pitiful security at Brize Norton and slapping paint on planes? Of course not. This seemed to start in 2016, after the abominable murder of Jo Cox, the Labour MP, by Thomas Mair, a recluse and weirdo unknown to the authorities. He was rapidly branded a 'terrorist' by politicians when it became clear he had a deeply unhealthy obsession with the far-right and its doctrines. He was a member of no terrorist organisation. What he did was appalling, but he was no more a terrorist than any politically-motivated psychopath acting alone. Ms Cox's murder came days before the Brexit vote. Those who branded Mair a 'terrorist' (and the authorities rapidly followed suit) were surely not trying to associate him with the Brexit movement – were they? On Friday, four people were arrested over the Brize Norton incident. If convicted, they must suffer exemplary punishment. However, I hope the Government accepts its responsibilities for such pathetic security. And I also hope that in future it reserves the term 'terrorist' for those who really merit it, rather than diluting it for idiotic troublemakers or lethal misfits.
South Wales Guardian
an hour ago
- South Wales Guardian
Two further terror arrests after vandalism of planes at RAF base
Counter Terrorism Policing South East said two men aged 22 and 24, both from London, were taken into police custody after the incident at RAF Brize Norton on June 20. They are accused of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, contrary to Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000. On Friday, a woman, aged 29, of no fixed address, and two men, aged 36 and 24, from London, were also arrested accused of the same offence. A 41-year-old woman, of no fixed address, was also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, police said. Palestine Action previously posted footage online showing people inside the Oxfordshire base, with one person appearing to ride an electric scooter up to an Airbus Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker, before spray-painting into its jet engine. The Home Secretary Yvette Cooper made the decision to proscribe Palestine Action following the incident, with the arrests coming just days before the proscription is set to come into force. Support for the group will become a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison when the ban comes into effect as soon as next Friday. Palestine Action has staged demonstrations that have included spraying the London offices of Allianz Insurance with red paint and vandalising US President Donald Trump's Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire. As she announced plans for Palestine Action's proscription, Ms Cooper said the group's methods have become 'more aggressive', with its members showing 'willingness to use violence'. At the time of the incident, the group said it had 'directly intervened in the genocide and prevented crimes against the Palestinian people' by 'decommissioning two military planes'. Palestine Action said Thursday's arrests 'further demonstrates that proscription is not about enabling prosecutions under terrorism laws – it's about cracking down on non-violent protests which disrupt the flow of arms to Israel during its genocide in Palestine'.
Metro
an hour ago
- Metro
Phone thefts hit record high in London with 37 a day snatched in West End alone
London's phone crime epidemic has reached an all time high – with more than 81,000 thefts reported last year. Data shared by the Met Police revealed that 37 people have their phones snatched in the West End alone each day. Victims are habitually targeted at key visitor hotspots, with just under half of the devices (40,000) taken in 2024 stolen in the capital's cultural hub, an area which also accounts for a third of all thefts in London. The Scotland Yard figures showed a 20 per cent increase in year on year phone theft reports. More than 230,000 phones have been reported stolen in the capital over the last four years. But the true picture remains unknown, as many unreported crimes mean the total figure is likely to be far higher. Stolen devices often fall in the hands of criminal gangs that sell them overseas or dismantle them for parts in a £50million black market. Many thefts are carried out by thieves on electric bikes or pickpockets. As well as near popular night life spots in the West End, other theft hotspots include Bloomsbury, Waterloo and Regent's Park. People are advised to stay on well lit streets which are more likely to have CCTV coverage and keep all valuable items out of sight. The Met's new Flying Squad unit arrested ten people involved in phone snatching gangs this week. Addressing concerns that police aren't probing cases enough, the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) said that officers often lack sufficient information and evidence to start criminal proceedings. Forces instead focus on pursuing gangs, frequent offenders and preventivemeasures, a spokesman told the Times. Tech firms are also investigating ways to make their devices watertight against criminals, including tools to allow owners to remotely lock and wipe their phones. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A spokesperson for the Met said that while phone thefts had 'boomed globally', reported cases were 15 per cent down in London in the first two months of this year compared to the same period in 2024. More Trending They said: 'We understand phone theft is still a serious problem and has boomed globally. London is not immune, and we are determined to target criminal gangs – many of whom steal phones and sell them overseas. 'We are continuing to step up our work to prevent and tackle this issue, with increased patrols and plain clothed officers in hotspot areas to deter and catch criminals. We're also improving the way we as track phone data to identify offenders. 'Since January 2025, we've made 526 arrests of offenders suspected of mobile phone and theft robbery.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Missing woman's body found on beach 140 miles from where she vanished last year MORE: Rare new statue of black woman unveiled in London – who is she? MORE: Perverts who live streamed sex attack on teen girl in van walks free from court
