LONDON — Green Party leader Zack Polanski apologised on Friday for retweeting a social media post that accused Metropolitan Police officers of violently kicking a suspect during the Golders Green stabbings, and invited Commissioner Mark Rowley to meet to discuss the police response. Polanski had reposted, without comment, a message alleging that officers were "repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head" when he was already incapacitated by a stun gun.

"Everyone in leadership has a responsibility for lowering the temperature at a time of such tension, and I apologise for sharing a tweet in haste. Police responses to emergency situations such as these do need later reflection in the right forums, but I accept that social media is not the appropriate channel for doing so. I have invited Mark Rowley to meet with me to discuss the police response and the wider issues raised in his letter," Polanski said.

Two Jewish people were stabbed in Golders Green on Wednesday, and police were filmed detaining the suspect after the attack. Footage shows two officers appearing to kick the suspect on or near the head during the arrest. Essa Suleiman, 45, appeared in court on Friday charged with the attempted murders of three people during two knife attacks in London on Wednesday.

Rowley described the allegation against his officers as "inaccurate and misinformed commentary" and praised the officers as "nothing short of extraordinary." He said the letter he sent to Polanski was not an "intervention to politics." Rowley said the officers had confronted someone they believed could be carrying an explosive device.

"I'm simply dealing with operational policing and defending my officers because I want them to have confidence to protect Londoners," Rowley said. "Officers need confidence in confronting these dangerous people, and if an eminent person thoughtlessly steps into that and undermines that, then I'm going to deal with that."

"Of course, there will always be inaccuracies, eccentricities and nonsense online. But when someone eminent puts something out there, which goes fundamentally to the confidence in my officers to act in the protection of London, when we've had two officers confront someone they believe to be a terrorist, who wasn't complying and they were afraid he might have an explosive device – can you imagine the fear and how difficult it is to deal with?" he said. He added: "Without their efforts to stop him, I dread to think what the outcome could have been."

Labour leader Keir Starmer also criticised Polanski, who leads the Green Party in England and Wales. Starmer said it was unfair on police faced with making split-second decisions, and noted that officers may have believed an explosive device was in the rucksack carried by the suspect. "You have to make a decision in that split moment according to the situation as you understand it to be. And for politicians to wade in, as Zack Polanski did, is disgraceful. He's not fit to lead any political party," Starmer said.