Met Police payout after Southgate preacher’s wrongful arrest
from BBC News:
A Christian street preacher who had his Bible confiscated as he was handcuffed by police has been awarded £2,500 for wrongful arrest.
Footage of the arrest of Oluwole Ilesanmi pleading with police to not “take my Bible away”, has been viewed online almost three million times.
He was detained outside Southgate Tube station in February after a 999 call claimed he had been Islamophobic.
The Met said it had a right to investigate a potential hate crime.
In a video posted online, Mr Ilesanmi, 64, is seen telling police: “Jesus is on the way.”
An officer, who arrested him for breach of the peace, can be heard replying: “I appreciate that but nobody wants to listen to that. They want you to go away.”
When Mr Ilesanmi tries to keep hold of his Bible, an officer says: “You should’ve thought about that before being racist.”
See also: Street preacher Olu offered damages by police after wrongful arrest, from Christian Concern:
[…] Following the initial incident, questions were asked by MPs, peers and London Assembly members concerning street preacher Olu’s treatment. A Christian Concern petition was also launched, supporting street preacher Olu and calling for the Home Secretary to urgently investigate the training given to police officers nationwide to ensure that they protect the freedom to preach in public.
The petition, now signed by over 40,000 members of the public, was delivered on 30 July by street preacher Olu to the Home Office. The Christian Legal Centre will also deliver a letter to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, which is being sent to every chief constable in the country that calls for many of the misconceptions about street preaching freedoms to be addressed through specialist training.
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