But Pearson told the the tweet did not warrant a home visit.
“They are under no obligation for such a small tweet to come to a person’s house, and make them frightened, and I have had almost 10 days of real dread and tears and fear, and that is not acceptable.”
She said “anyone can make an allegation and have it taken seriously”, adding the force has “thousands” of similar complaints, but does not investigate them all.
“This was wholly disproportionate… Why did Essex Police escalate it with me?” she asked.
The has seen the now-deleted post the police complaint related to.
It dates from 16 November 2023 and shows an image of two police officers standing next to two men holding what appears to be a flag of the Pakistani political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The post tags the Metropolitan Police alongside the words “how dare they”.
It adds: “Invited to pose for a photo with lovely peaceful British Friends of Israel on Saturday police refused. Look at this lot smiling with the Jew haters.”
X added a notice to the post stating that the image was taken in Manchester, not London, and that it is “not related to Palestine”.
Pearson said she did not think her tweet was wrong, and added: “I won’t censor myself but I will be more watchful in the future.”
In a previous statement, Essex Police said officers “went to a residential address to arrange a time to do an interview with a woman about a complaint made by a member of the public”.
An Essex Police spokesperson previously said the force “investigate crimes reported to us without fear or favour”.
“We’re sometimes faced with allegations of crime where people have strong opposing views. That’s why we work so hard to remain impartial and to investigate allegations, regardless of where they might lead.”
A number of political figures came out in support of Pearson, including shadow home secretary Chris Philp and former prime minister Boris Johnson – sparking a debate around free speech.
Responding to the debate, Essex Police previously said it supports free speech but “it does not support inaccuracy”.
“If an alleged crime is reported, it is investigated. There is no public interest in falsehood.”
The National Police Chiefs Council’s hate crime lead has been asked to carry out an independent review of the force’s handling of the matter.
Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, said it was “important the public have confidence in their police service”.
“This investigation has caused significant distress for Ms Pearson and a large amount of public concern,” he said.
“It has raised a number of important questions that need to be addressed so all of us can be confident the police are acting properly.”
