The British actress has since apologized after previously suggesting that the police accused of killing George Floyd learned arrest techniques from the Israeli cops.
- June 26, 2020
AceShowbiz - British actress Maxine Peake has apologised for alleging the police officer accused of killing Georg Floyd picked up controversial arrest techniques from Israel's top cops.
In an interview with U.K. news website The Independent on Thursday, June 28, 2020, Peake claimed U.S. officers were taught the practice of kneeling on people's necks - as murder suspect Derek Chauvin did with Floyd - during "seminars with Israeli secret services."
Following a backlash and a denial from a spokesperson for Israel's national police department, Peake admitted her error, tweeting, "I feel it's important for me to clarify that, when talking to The Independent, I was inaccurate in my assumption of American Police training & its sources. I find racism & antisemitism abhorrent & I in no way wished, nor intended, to add fodder to any views of the contrary."
The actress' comments have been criticised by a number of leading U.K. Jewish figures and organisations, including Holocaust Educational Trust chief Karen Pollock, and Dave Rich, Head of Policy at the Community Security Trust.
A spokesperson for Britain's Campaign Against Antisemitism, also slammed the star, telling WENN, "Maxine Peake's disgraceful promotion of a conspiracy theory tying Israel to the racist killing of George Floyd is unacceptable," adding that her views, "have no place in decent society."
Chauvin is facing murder charges for killing Floyd on camera by kneeling on his neck for almost nine minutes. His actions sparked the recent wave of Black Lives Matter protests across the world.
