It's gotta be a lousy time being a cop in the UK right now. On the one hand, you've got a government that has you arresting people for mean tweets, and patriotic tweets, and tweets that affirm biological reality, and on the other you've got...
...well, I've got nothing.
And if you're an ethnic minority and a woman and a cop? That's gotta be the triple play of awful.
As, indeed, it seems to have been for London Metropolitan Police woman Special Constable PC Fiona Shaik Umar, who was recognized as an outstanding officer in her area:
PC Fiona Shaik Umar of the Metropolitan Police Service has been presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Women in Policing Award at the Police Federation Annual Conference.
Sponsored by Boobydoo, the award recognises Fiona's exceptional commitment to supporting women in policing, improving representation and driving positive change for colleagues from underrepresented backgrounds.
Fiona has become a respected role model, using both her lived experience and professional expertise to champion inclusion and ensure women feel supported, valued and able to thrive within policing.
Raised in rural Ireland during a period of religious conflict, Fiona's experiences helped shape the values of resilience, compassion and justice that have defined her policing career. After embracing Islam in early adulthood, she joined policing to demonstrate to her daughters, and to other women and girls, that they can serve their communities with pride and integrity regardless of their background, faith or appearance.
But Constable Umar ran afoul of a storm of criticism .
Over what?
Well, the narrative says pretty much what one might expect:
Pc Umar, the first hijab-wearing officer within her policing area, was presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Women in Policing Award.
But Sir Mark [Rowley, the Metro police commissioner] revealed that the award had triggered an “online tirade” of abuse, including an AI-generated image depicting the officer with a suicide bomb.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s PM programme, he said: “The federation put out this really positive thing about this award, and the online tirade of vileness, of racist, anti-Islam and all sorts of other abuse, and misogynistic, was horrific.
“At one extreme, somebody did an AI-generated image and put a suicide bomb on her.
“This is a vile world to be a public servant in.” The Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley speaks out after a female Muslim police officer - who was recognised at the Police Federation Conference yesterday - has received online abuse. https://t.co/sNKDrdVtDZ
— BBC Radio 4 PM (@BBCPM) October 22, 2026
And to the extent that's true, that's pretty reprehensible. Attacking someone for their ethnicity and religion, absent some actual evidence that they're involved in some sort of shenanigans or tomfoolery, is wrong. Hopefully most of us agree on this.
And London and the UK are big places; in a country of tens of millions of people, you're going to find people whose motivations are...predictable. And toxic.
But a casual glance through the responses shows a lot more criticism spawned by this photo:
way to turn off comments you abject cowards. she's holding a rifle pointed at a colleague. her finger is inside the trigger guard and literally resting on the trigger. these are literal gun safety 101 "never do's." this is cosplay. she is not qualified. she's going to kill someone.
— el gato malo (@boriquagato) October 22, 2026
If you're a shooter, you've likely got the heeby-jeebies looking at that photo.
For those who are not: there are four unbreakable absolute rules of gun safety:
- You always treat them like they're loaded. "Hey, I don't see a magazine in there.." Shush. They are always loaded. Always means always. And...
- You never point a firearm at anything you're not willing to destroy, right now. Like, say, your partners thigh. And...
- You keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to put a hole in whatever you're pointing at. Like Officer Umar would do with her partner's thigh.
- Know where your bullet is going to end up. Like your partner's leg.
Now, the UK is famous for its gun control, not even trusting its regular officers with firearms. The sign — and the tricked-out AR15 — hints that Constable Umar is one of the "experts" entrusted with the sort of firepower that mere officers, to say nothing of the peasantry, just cannot.
And this is the example they set?
I have little doubt that SPC Umar was on the wrong of some racist abuse. But a nation full of people who get harassed for owning kitchen knives — not to mention a few million America shooters who've had it up to here with being told to emulate Brit policy — can be expected to take umbrage if this is how "the authorities" act with that power.
