British police officer arrested on suspicion of Hamas support 

The alleged support for Hamas related to online activity, Gloucestershire Police said.

  man is led away by police after he confronted demonstrators who gathered to take part in a mass funeral procession protest to commemorate the Palestinians who have been killed in the ongoing conflict in Gaza on March 23, 2024 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England (photo credit: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)
man is led away by police after he confronted demonstrators who gathered to take part in a mass funeral procession protest to commemorate the Palestinians who have been killed in the ongoing conflict in Gaza on March 23, 2024 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England
(photo credit: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)

A British police officer was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of support for Hamas, local police announced.

The officer, a serving constable with the Gloucestershire Police, was arrested by Counter Terrorism Policing South West (CTPSW) on account of contravening Section 12 of the Terrorism Act.

The alleged support for Hamas related to online activity, Gloucestershire Police said.

Gloucestershire Police Assistant Chief Constable Arman Mathieson acknowledged that the arrest of a serving officer on suspicion of such a serious offense would cause concern in the community.

He reassured the public that, given the suspected support for Hamas relates to online activity, “the searches taking place are predominately to locate digital devices for analysis.”

 Former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar looks on at an anti-Israel rally, in Gaza City, in 2022. (credit: MOHAMMED SALEM/REUTERS)
Former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar looks on at an anti-Israel rally, in Gaza City, in 2022. (credit: MOHAMMED SALEM/REUTERS)

Mathieson encouraged people not to draw conclusions at this early stage of the investigation.

Responses to the arrest

Campaign Against Antisemitism said, “While concerns about support for terror groups are clearly limited to a tiny minority of police officers, this is obviously not reassuring at all to the general public or to British Jews in particular, who are suffering from the worst surge in antisemitism in living memory.”

Earlier this year, West Yorkshire police officer Mohammed Adil, 26, pleaded guilty to sharing two images with captions showing support for Hamas. He received an 18-month community order and 160 hours of unpaid work for the two terrorism offenses.