As an ex rank and file copper who has policed the streets I am now the biggest and loudest advocate for Police Officers throughout the country. Their job, it could be argued with empirical evidence by the bucket load, has never ever been more dangerous nor so poorly supported by both government and public alike.
Yesterday though [Sunday 24th Feb], we saw two Police Officers who, by virtue of a video, appear to have crossed the line of professionalism and may have just acted beyond their legal remit.
An elderly looking man was preaching in London on the road side. Two officers approach and claim they have had a report that this gentleman, Bible in hand has been ‘Islamaphobic’. Now, due to the video beginning when the officers arrive, it cannot be established whether or not he had uttered anything Islamaphobic. One can only hope they have a written statement or some other evidence to prove the allegation.
A verbal altercation takes place and then the police officers grab the man and take his Bible. The man is heard pleading for the officers not to take his bible, the more aggressive of the two is heard to say “You should have thought about that before you decided to be racist”. I have not heard him utter anything racist whilst talking to them. They therefore have a report via telephone to suggest he has.
They say he has disturbed the Queens peace. They arrest him for this, handcuff him and take him away.
Several things come out of this action, not least is the ‘direct correlation’ between Christianity and Islam, and the way the Police, especially in London, prosecute the law which appertains to these ‘religions’.
There are many incidents of Muslims praying in the road stopping traffic and also at Speakers Corner in Hyde Park. Both are criminal offences and neither of these are prosecuted.
Public gatherings which demonstrate against the building of large mosques in many towns are heavily policed. Marches by Muslims calling for the death of our serving soldiers, and calling for those whose corpses being returned in coffins via Brize Norton to ‘burn in hell’ are not prosecuted.
Those who take part in marches, demonstrations and rallies, flying the proscribed ISIS flag – are not prosecuted. However, those carrying the Union Jack in public at events such as the Durham Miners Gala – are stopped and told to take the flag away.
Never before have we witnessed these double standards being applied by the UK Police when it comes to religious public displays than what took place today.
I hope the chap gets his Bible back and is let out of the station with no charge. I hope that the officers look at the video doing the rounds of social media and reflect on their actions.
With a grateful ‘hat-tip’ to Stephen Place; there aren’t many prepared to tell it like it is
LIVING STONES 