Essex Police say they are investigating an alleged racial hate crime after Daily Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson said she was “stunned and angry” when officers knocked on her door last Sunday.

Ms Pearson revealed she was told she was being investigated over a year-old deleted online post.

She said she was not told which post was reported, but suggested it could have been related to the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel or pro-Palestinian marches.

She claimed officers told her she was being investigated for an NCHI – an incident involving an act that is perceived to be motivated by hostility or harm towards people of a certain characteristic, but is not illegal.

The NCHI reports have long been controversial, with many citing free speech concerns, and Ms Pearson’s account of the police visit led to widespread support from Conservatives and online commentators, including the Conservative leader. Kemi Badenoch.

But one Essex The police spokesman told Sky News that its investigation was never for an NCHI and that the matter was always treated as an investigation into an alleged criminal offense of inciting racial hatred.

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Speaking on the Planet Normal podcast on Wednesday, Ms Pearson said she found the visit “scary”.

“I was stunned, upset, it’s not very nice,” she said. “I was in my dressing gown on the steps of the house, these two coppers were there just outside the door.

“There were people gathering for the Memorial Day parade, so there were people watching from the other side of the road.

“Whatever I did or didn’t tweet, if someone found it offensive, to me that’s still no reason for two cops to come to my house on a Sunday morning.

“You know, they don’t do that for thieves, do they? We know that the police are under-resourced and cannot attend to serious enough crimes.

“This was the most extraordinary reach and intrusion of the state into my private life and I don’t think I did anything wrong and I think their response was outrageous.”

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In a statement, Essex Police said: “Officers attended an address in Essex and invited a woman to come for a voluntary interview.

“They said it was related to an investigation into an alleged racial hate crime linked to a social media post.

“To be clear: a complaint of a possible crime was made to the police and that’s why I called; to set up an interview.

“Everyone was polite and professional throughout the short conversation.”

They said an officer told Ms Pearson: “It was considered an incident or offense of potentially inciting racial hatred online. That would be the crime.”

Essex Police say they have complained to the Independent Press Standards Organization (IPSO) about what they call “false reporting” about the ongoing investigation.

IN A interview with The Telegraph published yesterday, Kemi Badenoch said police visiting a journalist over a social media post was “absolutely wrong” and that “we need to look at the laws around non-criminal hate incidents”.

“There’s been a long-standing problem with people not taking free speech seriously,” she said.

She challenged the Prime Minister to review the laws, saying: “Keir Starmer says he is someone who believes in these things. Now he has to really prove that he believes. All I’ve seen from him is the opposite.”

Ms Badenoch added: “We need to stop this behavior of people wasting police time with trivial incidents because they don’t like something, like being in a nursery.

“It’s like the kids are reporting each other. And I think in some cases, the police are doing it because they’re afraid that if they don’t, they’re going to be accused and they don’t take these issues seriously.”

Essex Police said officers went to the address to invite Ms Pearson to take part in a voluntary interview as part of their investigation, which was referred to them by another force.

“The report relates to a social media post that was later removed,” the statement said.

“An investigation is currently underway under section 17 of the Public Order Act.”

Essex Police also said they had tried to contact Ms Pearson before the visit.

Other prominent Tory voices such as Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Chris Philp jumped to Ms Pearson’s defense online, as did X owner Elon Musk, who quoted a post about the incident and said: “This it must stop”.