The Metropolitan Police has responded to accusations of a “Christian crackdown” by the Daily Mail after a confrontation between officers and a street preacher in London.
Pastor Dwayne Lopez was preaching outside a shopping centre on Uxbridge High Street in west London when he was approached by five officers who told him that he can have committed a “hate crime” referring to “homophobia”.
He was then threatened with arrest unless he gave the officers his personal details.
Speaking after the incident, footage of which was posted to YouTube, Pastor Lopez said that police were “harassing” street preachers.
The Met has since issued a press release standing by the response of its officers. It said that videos on social media “rarely tell the complete story, especially after they’ve been cut or edited to make a selected point”.
“In this case, officers from our Professional Standards Directorate have looked in any respect the body worn video footage available – greater than 50 minutes of it,” it said.
“No misconduct was found. In fact, the officers involved were commended for his or her ‘skilled behaviour, their patience and their knowledge of the laws’ and for doing a great job in a potentially difficult situation.”
The Met also criticised media coverage of the incident and said it was “disappointing” that a few of it had not met the test of being balanced and accurate.
Singling out the Daily Mail, which had suggested a “Christian crackdown”, the Met said this was “just not a good option to describe officers responding to allegations of racist and homophobic remarks being shouted on the street”.
