The Metropolitan Police have responded to allegations of a “Christian crackdown” by the Each day Mail following a confrontation between officers and a avenue preacher in London.
Pastor Dwayne Lopez was preaching exterior a shopping mall in Uxbridge Excessive Avenue, west London, when he was approached by 5 law enforcement officials who informed him he could have dedicated a “hate crime” associated to “homophobia”.
He was then threatened with arrest if he didn’t present police together with his private data.
After the incident, footage of which was posted on YouTube, Pastor Lopez stated the police have been “harassing” the road preacher.
The Met has since launched a press release behind its officers' response. It stated movies on social media “not often inform the entire story, particularly once they've been minimize or edited to make a particular level.”
“On this case, officers from our skilled requirements directorate checked out all of the body-worn video footage obtainable – over 50 minutes,” it stated.
“No wrongdoing was discovered. In actual fact the officers concerned have been counseled for his or her 'skilled behaviour, persistence and data of the regulation' and for doing a superb job in a doubtlessly tough state of affairs.”
The Met additionally criticized media protection of the incident, saying it was “disappointing” that a few of it failed the take a look at of steadiness and accuracy.
Highlighting the Each day Mail's suggestion of a “Christian intervention”, the Met stated it was “not a good technique to describe law enforcement officials responding to allegations of racist and homophobic remarks being shouted on the street”.
