Two Green Party candidates have been arrested on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred.
They were detained by Metropolitan Police officers on Thursday morning under the Public Order Act.
One candidate allegedly claimed that a recent car-ramming attack on a synagogue was “revenge, not antisemitism” because the alleged attacker's family had reportedly been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon
The deadline for candidate nominations for the May 7 elections has now closed, meaning both candidates will remain on the ballot papers.
A spokesperson for the Green Party, which is projected to win Lambeth council next month, said: “This is now a police matter and we are unable to comment at this stage.”
The Met responded after receiving reports on April 21 of antisemitic material posted online.
It followed media reports that several Green Party candidates had shared offensive material on social media.
One of the posts of those arrested allegedly showed an image of an armed man wearing a green Hamas bandanna under the slogan “resistance is freedom”.
The other candidate allegedly shared a Facebook post allegedly claiming “ramming a synagogue isn’t antisemitism. It’s revenge.”
That candidate also allegedly suggested that Israel was worse than Nazi Germany, posting a photo of Auschwitz that said the Nazis had to “hide what they were doing”.
A Met spokesperson said: “Police have arrested two women, aged 57 and 54, on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred online, an offence under section 19 of the Public Order Act 1986. They remain in police custody.
“The arrests follow an investigation launched after concerns were reported to police on Tuesday, 21 April about antisemitic material that had been posted online.”
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