Katie Hopkins has been accused of a hate crime after remarks she made in the wake of the arrest of a man in Whitehall on suspicion of plotting a terror attack.
Hopkins tweeted: “Explosion in France, shooting at a German hospital, knife attack in London. And Ramadan has not yet begun. Without food these sods get nasty.”
It’s believed the LBC presenter was referring to an explosion at a McDonald’s restaurant in the south of France and a shooting at a hospital in Berlin, also on Thursday. Neither incident is believed to have been linked to terror.
Self-described Labour party member Damian Isherwood responded to the tweet to inform the mother-of-three: “ I’ve just reported a hate crime to the police @MetCC as this tweet is a hate crime that will incite racial violence @hopenothate @KTHopkins.”
Twitter user Jennifer added: “Please do something about this woman. There is a line between free speech and hate speech.”
The Met Police replied to both comments, asking to have further private conversations with the complainants.
A Met spokesman confirmed to HuffPost UK “the allegation will be reviewed and assessed by specialist officers.”
However, an unrepentant Hopkins tweeted: “I stand by my view. There is no such thing as online hate speech.” She later retweeted earlier comments by London Mayor Sadiq Khan calling for an end to online hate crime, claiming: “There is no such thing as online hate crime. Just cowardice and illiteracy from intolerants. Focus on acid and knife attacks.”
She followed this up with: “Dear Sadiq Khan’t. You want to stop hate on-line. I think hate on the streets might be more a pressing priority. Allah Akbar and all that.”
Monroe won £24,000 in damages, while Hopkins was ordered to pay both her own and Monroe’s legal bills, a figure some experts say could exceed £300,000.
The action was over a tweet sent by Hopkins in 2015 which implied Monroe had either vandalised a war memorial or had condoned the act.
In 2015 Hopkins escaped charges over allegations she had incited racial hatred for calling migrants “cockroaches.”
She was questioned by police in connection with the controversial column, published in The Sun on April 17, that came in the wake of a capsizing in which 400 migrants are believed to have drowned.
The piece, entitled ‘Rescue boats? I’d use gunships to stop migrants’, likened people fleeing war-torn nations to “cockroaches” and called for them to be turned away with military force.
Hopkins was reported to the Metropolitan Police three days after the article was published by Society of Black Lawyers chairman Peter Herbert, who complained her words were “offensive” and “xenophobic.”
The Special Enquiry Team of the Homicide and Major Crime Command investigated, but six months later Hopkins has revealed she has been given the all clear.
Hopkins told MailOnline: “I will not and will never apologise for standing up for what I believe in.
“I find it surprising that at a time when police are so undermanned they can’t afford to turn up to burglaries or find cars after a crash, they think a woman with an opinion is their highest priority.
“I am grateful Scotland Yard enjoys my writing but I would encourage them to focus their energies on those who present a real threat to this country which I love.”