Video footage of the incident was uploaded to the Contagious Christian YouTube channel eight days ago. Viewers can see a preacher being intimidated with arrest after supposedly committing a hate crime by making homophobic comments.

One of the Metropolitan officers requested him to reveal his name and address. When the preacher said he would provide the information only if he received a proper explanation, the policeman replied: “You can spend the night in a cell, and we can do it that way”.

According to another police officer: “Currently there are 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.”

The street preacher stated: “So we’ve been preaching about the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Bible says in the book of John, chapter three, verse 16, that For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only begotten son, that whosoever, that is any person, doesn’t matter if they’re black, homosexual, drunken, liar, thief, prostitute, whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but he sent his son into the world that all can be saved. And that is the message of the gospel. That’s what I’ve been preaching.”

The spokesman of the Metropolitan 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 informing the group of the allegations, explaining what constitutes a hate crime, and asking them what they had been discussing. There were no arrests.”

The video footage went viral and sparked dissatisfaction. One of the viewers pointed out that the police have double standards, referring to the incident when protesters called for Jihad in London and the police did nothing: “This is absolutely bizarre. Islamists can call for Jihad on the streets of London, but do not dare preach about Jesus?” 

Another viewer commented: “No wonder the country is in the state it is at the moment. Harassing preachers instead of stopping real crime.”