People power! Reed’s ‘sinister’ complaint dropped by police – Inside Croydon

EXCLUSIVE: The pro-Zionist Labor leader claimed he feared for his life as a small group of grandmothers and mothers staged a protest demanding an end to the killing in Gaza. By STEVEN DOWNES

Conceited: Steve Reed claimed in his complaint “the people outside our house were supporters of terrorism and therefore might have bricks or Molotov cocktails.”

Two Croydon pensioners who were called in for interview by police following a complaint made by Steve Reed are not to face further action, the Met has confirmed.

Marian Carty and David White were part of a peaceful demonstration last November calling for a ceasefire and an end to the slaughter of innocent civilians in Gaza. The protest was held in public areas on Upper Norwood Street, where Reed has a home.

Reed is Labour’s environment spokesman, MP for Croydon North from 2012 to 2024, standing in the general election as his party’s candidate for Streatham and Croydon North. Reed has received significant funding from supporters of Israel.

Reed drew a lot of criticism from his Muslim constituents last year when he ignored requests to meet with them to discuss the situation in Gaza after the October 7 attacks by Hamas on an Israeli music festival.

Carty and White were at the protest shortly after an SNP ceasefire motion was tabled in Parliament. A group of voters, dismayed that Reed did not support the call to end the crime, joined the demonstration. They included mothers, grandmothers and pensioners, along with two young children. A legal observer was present, who reported that the demonstration was entirely peaceful and that interactions with neighbors were calm and respectful.

Pro-Palestine protesters: David White and Marian Carty in a recent appearance on a political podcast. Steve Reed complained that they were kind of dangerous

Reed reported the matter to the Metropolitan Police two weeks after the protest. Shortly before this, Marian Carty received the notice of suspension from the Labor Party.

White is a former Labor councilor on the old GLC and a long-serving party official who had already been expelled from Labor after a repeated search through his social media posts.

Reed, in his witness statement to Labour’s disputes team, made what pensioners described as “some ludicrous but sinister claims”.

They include: “We could see Palestinian flags which are associated in many people’s minds with the terrorist group Hamas, so we had good reason to fear that people outside our house were supporters of terrorism and therefore might have bricks with them or Molotov cocktails…”

Carty said Inside Croydon: “The Palestinian flags we had at the demonstration are the flags of the Palestinian people. They are not Hamas flags.

“The idea that we would throw Molotov cocktails at Mr. Reed’s house is just ridiculous.”

And White said: “We are relieved that our prosecutions are not continuing, but the matter should never have gone this far. There has never been a viable case under the Public Order Acts or anything else against us.

Call for cleanup: in 2020, Reed expressed his position

“The police investigation was a huge waste of public money. In our view, it was designed to try to silence peaceful protests.

“For someone who holds a senior position in the Labor Party and could be a cabinet minister if Labor wins the general election, Mr Reed has shown poor judgement. He would be better advised to listen to the concerns of his constituents, rather than dismiss them and falsely accuse them of “violent and criminal intent,” as he stated in his witness statement.

“By refusing to support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to UK arms sales to Israel, Mr Reed is, in our view, complicit in Israel’s war crimes. Attempts to silence those who cry it out will not hide it.”

Read more: #TheLabourFiles: MP Reed, Evans and the Croydon connection
Read more: This is ‘democracy’ in Steve Reed’s Croydon Labor Party
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Read more: Scotland Yard’s cyber crime unit investigating Croydon Labour

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