Watch: Met Police threaten to arrest Christian preacher
Metropolitan Police officers have been filmed threatening to arrest a Christian preacher over allegations of hate crime.
Video posted on social media showed a group of at least five officers demanding the names of the evangelist worshippers after a member of the public alleged that they had been racist and homophobic.
The row was filmed outside the Pavilions shopping centre on Uxbridge High Street in west London and posted to YouTube last week, where it has amassed 71,000 views. There were no arrests.
One of the Met officers can be heard telling the preacher: “Currently there’s allegations of a hate crime, a public order offence, Section 4a [and] allegations of homophobia.
“I’ve not heard anything, I’m not saying I’ve heard anything. Someone’s called us. It might be completely untrue or true.
“If I do walk away and I see offences, and the victim wants to press charges... I could have failed a potential victim.”
A second officer added that there has been an allegation of a hate crime and warned that causing “alarm or distress in a public space” amounts to a criminal offence.
When the preacher says that he does not wish to provide his details, an officer responds: “Provide me your name now or you will be arrested. You can spend the night in a cell and we can do it that way.”
It is unclear exactly when the exchange took place or how long it lasted, as the nine-minute video on YouTube by an account named “Contagious Christian” features several cuts between clips.
A spokesman for the Met Police said: “Officers were responding to a report from a member of the public that a group of people were making racist and homophobic comments.
“The Met does not tolerate hate crime and officers responded to investigate this. We have watched the body-worn video of the full exchange.
“This showed officers informed the group of the allegations, explained what constitutes a hate crime, and asked them what they had been discussing. There were no arrests.”
The row comes after the force apologised when footage appeared to show a constable sticking her tongue out at a Christian singer and telling her she couldn’t sing religious songs outside of Church.
Harmonie London, a 20-year-old gospel singer who has almost 300,000 Instagram followers and more than 320,000 YouTube subscribers, was filming worship music on Oxford Street in central London.
Maya Hadzhipetkova, a Met Police volunteer special constable, told her: “No, miss, you’re not allowed to sing church songs outside of church grounds, by the way.”
Scotland Yard said it was “sorry for the offence caused and will take the learning forward” and that the officer was “mistaken” about church songs but that unlicensed busking was an issue.
