A chief constable is facing questions after a daily newspaper journalist was threatened with arrest while covering clashes between police and demonstrators.

Xander Elliards from Scottish daily The National was covering a protest by pro-Palestine campaigners in Glasgow on Wednesday when he was threatened with arrest by an officer.

Now a member of the Scottish Parliament has written to Police Scotland chief constable Jo Farrell demanding an explanation for the “concerning interaction.”

The National Union of Journalists has posted what it called “shocking” footage of the confrontation on its X account and said it would also be “following up” the incident with Police Scotland.

🗣️’Let’s have a selfie, big man. Are you still not going to take a direction from a constable in uniform?’

NEW: A journalist at The National was threatened with arrest by a police officer while attempting to cover a major protest outside a Glasgow arms factory

Full video 👇 pic.twitter.com/0ldFLmORit

— The National (@ScotNational) May 15, 2024

The incident occurred as pro-Palestine campaigners mounted a blockade at the Thales factory in Glasgow on Wednesday in a bid to end arms sales to Israel.

Xander, who is The National’s content editor, was standing roughly 100m from the demonstration when the office told him he was being “obstructive to the police”.

Although the confrontation took place in a public street, the officer claimed he didn’t have “free roam to go about protest sites” and suggested he could be arrested under Section 20 of the Police and Fire Reform Act.

At one stage Xander was grabbed by the officer who then suggested “let’s get a selfie big man” before asking him to move around the corner. Xander eventually agreed to move away but not before filming the entire incident.

Posting on X, NUJ Scotland described the confrontation as “astonishing and shocking.

They added: “Journalists need to be free to go about their work without interference from Police Scotland. We will be following up on this to ask why police officers apparently are unaware of the law.”

The National’s editor Laura Webster added: “Absolutely shocking treatment of our brilliant journalist Xander today from this Police Scotland officer. Our team will certainly not be letting this incident pass us by with no questions asked.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson previously said: “During the protest an officer engaged with a journalist and asked him to move away from an area where officers were taking part in an operational briefing. Officers provided advice and guidance and no further action was taken.”

Maggie Chapman, who is the Scottish Green Party’s parliamentary justice spokesperson, wrote to the Chief Constable yesterday requesting urgent replies to a series of questions.

She asked Ms Farrell what measures have been put in place to ensure that police are protecting the freedom of the press, what training officers policing the protests received to ensure they are not violating the rights of journalists reporting on them, and what action was being taken in relation to the incident.

She added: “Freedom of the Press is vital for a functional democracy. Our journalists must be able to cover important events.”

“I look forward to hearing from you as a matter of urgency.”