Moment police officer defends Christian preacher’s freedom of speech after Whitechapel group say ‘This is a Muslim area’
- Do you know the preacher? Email matt.strudwick@dailymail.co.uk
This is the moment a police officer defends a Christian preacher in Whitechapel and is told: ‘This is a Muslim area.’
The confrontation sees a female Met Police officer being surrounded by males and telling them: ‘In this country, we have freedom of speech.’
She continued: ‘I understand that you guys don’t want to hear it, so I would just recommend that you walk away and don’t listen to him. He’s not in your home.’
In a noisy and chaotic scene, a man wearing a black surgical mask appears to tell the officer in reply: ‘This is Whitechapel, this is a Muslim area.’
The Scotland Yard officer has been widely praised for how she handled the situation, and, in some quarters, was hailed as a hero.
The situation at times threatened to boil over, with footage from the encounter in Whitechapel Road widely shared on social media.
A male clutching a microphone and Bible can be heard preaching the Gospel in the viral footage, which is believed to have happened on Monday, a day before Ramadan began.
It took place just yards from the East London Mosque, one of the largest in Western Europe, which can accommodate up to 7,000 worshippers for daily prayers.
This is the moment a police officer defends a Christian preacher in Whitechapel and is told: ‘This is a Muslim area’
A male clutching a microphone and Bible (right) can be heard preaching the Gospel in Whitechapel Road, just yards from the East London Mosque
In one clip, a bearded male shouts at the preacher ‘talk about Jesus, don’t talk about Muhammad. Don’t say Muhammad.’
A male wearing a knee-length black duffel coat and mask then shoves the preacher in the back, which causes him to stumble forward.
Another man is later repeatedly heard shouting at the preacher: ‘Your God is a Jew.’
A male later explained to the female officer that he phoned police as the preacher was ‘talking about the prophet, then he said like a donkey’ which was upsetting ‘hundreds of people’ walking past.
He then accuses the preacher of ‘spreading hatred’ and alleges he was calling the Black Stone in the sacred Kaaba building in Mecca ‘a box’.
But the evangelist denies this and says he was quoting from Muhammad ‘who says if a donkey brays it’s because he is seeing Satan’.
The female officer defends the preacher and explains to a group of males that ‘in this country we have freedom of speech, the same way you guys have your freedom of speech’.
‘You guys don’t need to see eye-to-eye, and you don’t need to agree,’ she says.
The evangelist denies he was calling Muhammad a donkey and explained he was quoting the prophet ‘who says if a donkey brays it’s because he is seeing Satan’
‘You’re all more than welcome to stand here and have conversations with them, but they’re not being aggressive.’
According to the most recent Census, 52.2 per cent of the 18,841 people who live in Whitechapel are Muslim.
The officer continues: ‘I understand that you guys don’t want to hear it, so I would recommend that you just move away and don’t listen to him.’
Another male approaches the officer and complains that ‘he is in our community, and you don’t see Muslims walking around and insulting other faiths’.
The police constable responds: ‘You guys can preach about your religion the same way he is.’
She denies that he is inciting hatred but admits he is at risk of being assaulted. But she reassures the group that cameras are monitoring the area in what she describes as a ‘heavily Muslim community’.
The Daily Mail has contacted the Met Police for comment.