Woman who posted antisemitic conspiracies about Grenfell fire jailed

Tahra Ahmed who falsely claimed online that victims were ‘burnt alive in a Jewish sacrifice’ given 11 month sentence 

By Edward Era Barbacena

A woman who spread false antisemitic conspiracy theories on Facebook about the Grenfell Tower tragedy has been jailed for 11 months.

Tahra Ahmed, 51, said the 72 victims were “burnt alive in a Jewish sacrifice” in a video posted to social media just four days after the tragedy on 14 June 2017.

She was sentenced on Friday after an Old Bailey trial. She was previously found guilty of two counts of stirring up racial hatred by publishing written material.

Ahmed, who reportedly worked as a volunteer with victims of the fire, posted her false conspiracy theories “virulently” on Facebook, the court heard. On 18 June 2017, she posted a video on Facebook of the fire and described it as a “Jewish sacrifice”, the court heard.

She said: “I’ve been at the scene, at the protest and at the community meetings and have met many of the victims … some who were still in the same clothes they escaped in.

“They are very real and genuine, their pain and suffering is raw and deep and their disgusting neglect by authorities continues. Watch the footage of people trapped in the inferno with flames behind them. They were burnt alive in a Jewish sacrifice.”

The post linked the fire to an antisemitic conspiracy related to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Prosecutor Hugh French had previously told jurors that an examination of her account unearthed two posts in January and June 2017 that “crossed the line as to what is acceptable in a liberal society”. The earlier post, made on 26 January 2017, also promoted an antisemitic conspiracy theory, jurors heard.

A police investigation into Ahmed’s activities was launched following a story in the Times on 11 December 2017, which focused on some of the people who attended public meetings after the tragedy. An examination of Ahmed’s Facebook account revealed a history of antisemitic comments.

French also said that, while Ahmed’s Facebook account demonstrated “strongly held beliefs”, the two posts identified were “clear demonstrations of racial hatred”, the Daily Mail reported.

“Looking at the language of the posts, the crude racial stereotyping and the insulting tone, the Crown say that you can infer that she posted them either intending to stir up racial hatred [or] that racial hatred was likely to be stirred up”, he was reported to have told jurors.

Ahmed, from Tottenham, north London, denied wrongdoing, claiming that her posts were “political”.