Video footage has emerged showing a female Metropolitan Police officer being confronted while defending a Christian preacher in Whitechapel, east London. The encounter, filmed on Whitechapel Road on the Monday before Ramadan began, has been widely shared on social media.
The video, uploaded to YouTube channel Auditing Britain, shows the preacher holding a Bible and preaching the Gospel near the East London Mosque, one of the largest mosques in Western Europe. A group of men can be heard yelling at him, with one physically shoving him in the back, causing him to stumble forward.
The officer intervenes, telling the group: “In this country we have freedom of speech, the same way you guys have your freedom of speech.” She advises them to walk away if they do not wish to listen. One man replies: “This is Whitechapel, this is a Muslim area.” Another accuses the preacher of spreading hatred and calling the Black Stone in Mecca “a box”.
According to the latest census, 52.2% of Whitechapel’s 18,841 residents are Muslim. The officer has been widely praised for her handling of the situation, with the video receiving over 150,000 views. One commenter called her “first class” and commended her knowledge of the law.
