A Metropolitan police officer has been
arrested on suspicion of being a member of a banned group linked to right-wing
terrorism. The constable, 21, was held by counter-terrorism officers on
Thursday at an address in north London, where a search is being carried out.
The officer, who works in “frontline policing”, has been taken to a south
London police station where he remains in custody.
The arrest relates to suspected membership of
a proscribed organisation linked to right-wing terrorism, but the Met said
there is nothing to suggest there is any threat to the wider public.
Scotland Yard said the force’s directorate of
professional standards has been told and the officer’s status is under review.
Recruits are supposedly vetted before starting as police constables and senior
officers felt they had measures in place to stop infiltration by extremist
groups.
Last year the Guardian revealed that a
suspected far-right sympathiser was feared to be at large in the Met, after
managing to scrawl, undetected, a swastika in a secure area of a police
station. The culprit has not been caught and the discovery shocked ethnic
minority and other staff.
The swastika was found in February 2019 drawn
on an inside wall at Edmonton police station in Enfield, north London, in an
area only accessible to officers and staff.
Counter-terror chiefs have described the far
right as the fastest-growing terror threat. The British military has put in
extra measures amid concerns about attempts at far-right infiltration and
concern about some forces’ apparent support for extremist figures such as Tommy
Robinson.
The case has been referred to the Independent
Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) watchdog.
The arrest comes after MPs backed a ban on
membership of more rightwing groups last month. A proscription order was issued
which makes joining Sonnenkrieg Division illegal in the UK. The law also
recognises System Resistance Network as an alias of the already banned neo-Nazi
group National Action.
Anyone found to be a member of, or offering
support to, the banned groups can face up to 10 years in jail.
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