"The 36-year-old was interviewed under caution"
A wealthy school teacher was identified as the protestor holding a placard that depicted Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman as coconuts.
At the pro-Palestinian march in central London on November 11, 2023, the woman’s banner led to the Metropolitan Police putting out a search appeal for her.
The force categorised her actions as a “hate crime”.
The depiction of the banner’s imagery referred to the term ‘coconut’.
In this case, it is being used to describe a person of South Asian descent as being brown on the outside and white on the inside.
The woman has now been identified as school teacher Marieha Mohsin Hussain.
She was interviewed under police caution.
A police statement read: “Yesterday a woman attended a police station after a picture on social media showed a placard depicting two politicians as coconuts.
“The 36-year-old was interviewed under caution on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence.”
According to Ms Hussain’s mother, she was at the march but did not speak about the banner.
Her father is a distinguished dermatologist who qualified in Pakistan but practises in the UK.
The Times reported that Ms Hussain grew up in her family’s detached home in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire.
In the past, Ms Hussain has attended other protests, including one accusing the BBC of pro-Israeli bias.
Despite being accused of a racially aggravated public order, a friend said:
“She is not the sort of person who would ever dream of doing something bad. There is not a malicious bone in her body.
“She would never do something that was a hate crime.
“Marieha and her family are the most peaceful, lovely, helpful people you would ever meet.
“I am sure she would not know it would cause any trouble.”
The protests saw more than 120 arrests.
Commander Karen Findlay, who was responsible for policing in London during the protests, said:
“While the vast majority of people demonstrated peacefully, there were various breakaway groups whose behaviour was completely unacceptable.
“Our response was quick and decisive.
“Our officers have been working tirelessly to deal with the 29 individuals arrested yesterday, with six of those now charged and set to appear in court.
“Four of those arrested yesterday evening have been referred to their local Youth Offending Teams.
“One arrest has been made this morning for a public order offence after a man was allegedly heard making anti-Semitic comments in Parliament Square.”
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