Police officers who posed with Laurence Fox ‘didn’t know who he was’
The pair will face no action from force bosses after agreeing to a photo ‘out of politeness’.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Two Metropolitan police officers who posed for a photo with Laurence Fox will face no action from force bosses because they did not know who he was.
Fox posted the photograph on his feed on X, formerly known as Twitter, with the caption “good cops”, leading to questions from some social media users.
On Monday, the force said: “The officers were unaware of Mr Fox’s public profile and merely agreed to a photo out of politeness.
“It can be easy for people who are very active on social media to assume that online personalities are as familiar to others as they are to them.
“That isn’t always the case.
“We have no plans to take any action against the officers involved who we believe were acting in good faith.”
Fox gave a speech at a protest organised by Tommy Robinson in Westminster on Saturday.
He has been involved in various controversies, and was sacked by GB News after making unflattering remarks about journalist Ava Evans on air.
In April this year, he was ordered to pay £180,000 in damages after he was sued by drag artist Crystal and former Stonewall trustee Simon Blake over comments he made on X.
And a picture he posted of broadcaster Narinder Kaur on the social media site is under investigation by police amid allegations of upskirting, a term used to describe taking pictures of people under their clothes without their permission.