A Metropolitan Police hate crimes officer who shared “undeniably anti-Semitic and grossly offensive” posts on Instagram after Hamas’s murderous attack on southern Israel has been sacked.
Detective Constable Ibrahim Khan published a mock image of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu morphing into Adolf Hitler to draw comparisons between Israeli policy and that of the Nazis.
It was captioned: “The irony of becoming what you once hated” and “Well done Israel, Hitler would be proud.”
Screenshots disseminated to Khan’s 250 online followers between October 17 and 23, 2023 were presented to a gross misconduct panel.
In one, he personally added the text: “Every day they invent some new bull**** lie to try gain Western sympathy” and “f*** them”.
Khan was based in Scotland Yard’s Community Safety Unit which investigates domestic abuse and hate crimes, including those motivated by race, faith, sexual orientation or disability.
The Met has dedicated over £60 million and 80,000 officer shifts to policing marches in the capital since October 7, 2023. Israel’s revenge claimed more than 50,000 Palestinian lives mostly women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry.
The senior officer, who chaired Khan’s disciplinary panel, said: “[His] conduct was deliberate and sustained over a number of days.
“I find it inconceivable given DC Khan’s background in the CSU and as an experienced police officer, that he did not consider that these posts could be antisemitic or highly offensive.
“Given that DC Khan had posted the material to around 250 people there was a very real risk that it could have been made public.
“There is very significant public feeling around the situation in the Middle East.”
He said “any perception of bias” where policing must be without fear or favour is damaging, adding: “As is clear from the number of ongoing public demonstrations, and were DC Khan’s behaviour to become public, this would be likely to result in a severe deterioration in public trust and confidence in the police service as a whole and would make the policing of such demonstrations more challenging.”
Khan denied the material was anti-Semitic but was found to have breached standards of professional behaviour relating to equality and diversity, and discreditable conduct.
After being dismissal without notice, his name was added to the College of Policing’s barred list.
Anyone with information about a corrupt police officer or member of staff working for the Met who is abusing their position and power, can call the Anti-Corruption and Abuse Hotline, run by independent charity Crimestoppers, on 0800 085 0000 or complete the online form at www.crimestoppers-org.uk.
