Police handcuffed a Christian preacher and grabbed his Bible from his hands, accusing him of Islamophobia and “hate speech” against Muslims. However, despite reminding the officers that he has the right to speak, he was told that he “should’ve thought about that before being racist.”
While preaching the Gospel in the UK, Protestant missionary Oluwole Ilesanmi was approached by local police officers, who insisted that he stop his religious oration or face the consequences. Facing his convictions, Oluwole, a former dentist who moved to England from Nigeria, refused, peacefully explaining that he will not stop preaching God’s word to anyone who will hear it. It was then that the immigrant discovered just how free the UK actually is.
Daily Mail reports that London’s Metropolitan Police grabbed the 64-year-old preacher’s Bible from his hands and handcuffed him for insulting Islam and practicing “hate speech” by quoting scriptures. An arresting officer accused Ilesanmi of Islamophobia and disturbing the peace. When he pleaded with them not to take his Bible, the officer retorted, “You should’ve thought about that before being racist.”
One of the police officers claimed Ilesanmi was disturbing the peace, saying: “No one wants to hear that. They want you to go away.”
As it turns out, a Muslim man was the cause for Ilesanmi’s arrest, having been upset by the preacher’s beliefs about Islam. The anonymous man accused the Christian preacher of “blasphemy” against Islam, a Sharia offense that the British authorities seemingly enforced.
“I believe God loves everyone, including Muslims, but I have the right to say I that I don’t agree with Islam – we are living in a Christian country, after all,” Ilesanmi said. “I was upset when they took away my Bible. They just threw it in the police car. They would never have done that if it had been the Koran. Whatever happened to freedom of speech?”
However, what wasn’t reported by the mainstream media is that Ilesanmi’s accuser had violently threatened him just moments before running to the police. The Muslim man confronts Ilesanmi’s rejection of Allah by saying, “I should strike you!” and “I ought to smack you in the face!” while relentlessly hurling obscenities. The confrontation was captured on camera by Ambrosine Shitrit, proving that Ilesanmi never strayed from simply stating religious opinion even after the aggressor threatened his physical safety.
“The preacher was fearless, but if I hadn’t started filming he would have been attacked,” Shitrit said. “He was not breaching the peace and in no way had he been Islamophobic. I would’ve been the first person to have said something if he had been.”
Fortunately, the truth later came out. After arresting Ilesanmi for an alleged hate crime, the police strangely pulled over their cruiser and released him. Initially, the Metropolitan Police lied, claiming they’d only driven Ilesanmi 200 yards. However, they finally admitted that they abandoned him more than four miles away, forcing him to find his way back without any money.
Seeing the incident as a calculated attack on religious freedom, Ilesanmi decided to fight back. With damning video evidence being watched more than 10 million times on social media, the police were forced to admit wrongdoing, paying Ilesanmi $3,038 in damages.
Although Ilesanmi was reimbursed, his attacker was never pursued for “hate speech” or threatening violence. Despite verbally abusing the Christian preacher, the Muslim man was allowed to walk free without even the accusation of Christianophobia, showcasing an apparent religious bias.
Britain serves as a warning for what is to come in the United States if our freedoms aren’t protected. If we don’t take heed, we will end up sacrificing our inalienable rights to appease the fickle sensibilities of an easily offended people.
