A Metropolitan Police officer has apologised for posting offensive tweets about Jewish people and non-Muslims, but denied they warranted her dismissal.
Pc Ruby Begum, 29, admitted during a police misconduct hearing that she used offensive language such as “dirty Zionists. Hell is waiting” while serving as a special constable.
She also admitted using the term “kuffar” to refer to non-believers, saying: “Kuffar lips have been all over my mug, there is no way I’m using that thing again.”
Around 25,000 posts were made between 2013 and 2019 under the Twitter username @ruby_beee and Ms Begum has been accused of failing to disclose this handle twice during vetting processes in 2014 and 2016.
The hearing was told accusations against Ms Begum that she had held an interest in extremist preachers and had failed to disclose her links to a jihadi woman living inside a so-called Islamic State caliphate in Syria had been dropped over a lack of evidence.
Ms Begum gained widespread recognition in 2020 after a photo of her facing down anti-lockdown protesters in London went viral.
Ms Begum also made a series of derogatory posts about Jewish people, writing: “Dirty Zionists. Hell is waiting” and “Zionists have no heart”.
When asked about these comments, she said she did not believe all Jewish people were Zionists and that her comments were about the Israeli government and the deaths of Palestinians.
She told the panel: “I had a problem with the Israeli government and systematic inequalities. I’ve seen anti-Zionist Jewish people and never equated them.
“I didn’t think it was a term of offence. I heard Jeremy Corbyn say it in Parliament and thought it was OK.
“If I was describing Jewish people, I would just say Jewish people. I have nothing against Jewish people. I have no hate towards that group.”
She also made a series of posts about the September 11 attacks.
