Freedom of Speech Dead in UK as London’s Muslim Mayor Defends Arrest of Christian Preacher

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How much has Britain deteriorated as a free society? This much: a Christian preacher from Nigeria, Oluwole Ilesanmi, recently discovered that preaching Christianity in public is illegal in London, because it offends Muslims. And London’s Muslim mayor has defended the arrest of Ilesanmi, saying that “there are limitations” on the freedom of speech.

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Ilesanmi was arrested on February 23 while he was preaching, after a Muslim complained to police. A London activist, Ambrosine Shitrit, filmed the arrest. She explained what happened in an interview with CBN News: “A man with a hoodie was trying to humiliate, to be aggressive towards this Christian street preacher. I could see that he was a Muslim man because he was talking about, ‘No. Allah is the right way.’”

The Muslim who was harassing Ilesanmi was not arrested. Ilesanmi was. A police officer asked him, “What are you doing here?”

“I am preaching,” Ilesanmi answered.

The police officer responded: “You’re preaching. I am going to require you to go away.”

To that, Ilesanmi said: “You can never.”

“Okay,” said the police officer, “then I will arrest you for breach of peace.” What Ilesanmi asked him how he was breaching the peace, the officer replied: “What you’re doing. You’re causing problems, you’re disturbing people’s day and you’re breaching their peace.”

Ambrosine Shitrit explains: “Nobody was offended by the preaching, nobody. Nobody was offended and nobody came to see what was happening.”

Andrea Williams of the Christian Legal Centre, which is working with Ilesanmi on his case, explained: “This was completely an overreach of their authority. There was no basis upon which to arrest the pastor although they did know clearly because it’s caught on the camera. There was no proper investigation. They arrested him for Islamophobia which isn’t an offense and certainly there was no evidence of the fact that he was Islamophobic or racist.”

London’s Muslim mayor, Sadiq Khan, thought this arrest was just fine. According to Christian Today, Khan was asked about the arrest of Ilesanmi during Mayor’s Question Time at the London Assembly on March 21. Instead of saying that he thought the arrest was appalling and gratuitous, and defending the freedom of speech in general and Ilesanmi’s right to preach Christianity in particular, Khan said with studied blandness: “I expect the police to take this matter seriously.”

He added: “It’s always been clear that freedom of speech is critical and must be protected but also the police must be able to investigate when allegations are made of a criminal offence.”

The possible “criminal offense” in Ilesanmi’s case is “Islamophobia” or offending a Muslim, which are criminal offenses according to Sharia, but not illegal in Britain – at least not officially.

This is in a London that has become so unsafe that Somali Muslim migrants are actually sending their children back to war-torn Mogadishu in order to keep them out of harm’s way. Crime rates are skyrocketing in Khan’s London, and Khan’s police are devoting time and attention not to stopping knife crime and making the city safe again, but making sure that Muslims don’t have to suffer hearing the sound of Christian preaching.

And when Khan was asked whether Christians could preach in London without risking arrest, he answered: “There’s not an unlimited right to freedom of expression or free speech. There are limitations and there’s a balance that needs to be done. But I’m quite clear in my own views – we should go as far as we can to uphold that really important principle [of free speech] and that includes discourse about religion.”

If there are any limits to the freedom of speech other than prohibitions on open calls for violence and criminal activity, then there is no freedom of speech at all. And if there is no freedom of speech, there is no longer a free society. Muslims complained about Oluwole Ilesanmi’s preaching, and now it is official: Muslims in Britain are a protected class whose wishes must be catered to in all circumstances.

As long as that principle goes unchallenged, Britain will continue to race toward its own ruin.

Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He is author of the New York Times bestsellers The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) and The Truth About Muhammad. His new book is The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS. Follow him on Twitter here. Like him on Facebook here.

 

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Thurston Howell III
Thurston Howell III
4 years ago

LONDONISTAN.

felix1999
felix1999
4 years ago

John and Charles Wesley would keel over in disbelief that their beloved country would do this.

Rocinante44
Rocinante44
4 years ago
Reply to  felix1999

centuries before the wesley brothers the english were burning christians at the stake, and dug up the bones of wycliiffe and threw them in a river for his sin of translating the bible into english. the now-muslim celts have just returned to their roots….screw em

felix1999
felix1999
4 years ago
Reply to  Rocinante44

Forty-four years after Wycliff’s death, the Pope demanded his bones be dug up, crushed and tossed into the River Swift. Historian Ken Connolly noted, just as Wycliffe’s ashes flowed down the River Swift, to the English Channel, and eventually connecting to the world’s oceans, so his influence has spread to every part of the earth.

Bible based Protestants were the ones being burnt at the stake for making the Bible available to others. Catholics didn’t want the common person to have a Bible. It was all about power and control. The Bible was meant for ALL to read.

http://slideplayer.com/slide/4563652/15/images/14/Luther+not+first+to+challenge+Church.jpg

http://slideplayer.com/slide/3524143/12/images/13/John+Wycliffe+1320-1384.+Opposed+teachings+of+the+organized+Church+%E2%80%93+believed+they+contradicted+the+Bible..jpg

Dave Glynn
Dave Glynn
4 years ago
Reply to  felix1999

Very true felix. Glad you explained it so clearly. I do so hate miss understandings when it comes to historical fact.
Cheers mate

Raymond of Canada
Raymond of Canada
4 years ago
Reply to  Rocinante44

ah-ah, I was just going to correct you but Felix below beat me to it.

MuhamMUDTheFakeProphet
MuhamMUDTheFakeProphet
4 years ago
Reply to  felix1999

I hope David Glynn hasn’t been arrested for crimes against islum or whatever the English euphemism is for the enforcement of islamic blasphemy and heresy laws.

Dave Glynn
Dave Glynn
4 years ago

God bless you for your kind thoughts my good friend.
I’ve been busy but still fighting the good fight and there’s every chance I and many of my friends will be arrested next Friday the 29th when we show what we really feel about this government of traitors.
We can not tolerate what is happening in England anymore and have been pushed too far.

MuhamMUDTheFakeProphet
MuhamMUDTheFakeProphet
4 years ago
Reply to  Dave Glynn

All I can say is good luck and stay safe.

Patriotliz
Patriotliz
4 years ago

The book “Londonistan” was written by Melanie Phillips in 2006. Apparently the majority of Brits didn’t really care then and they don’t really care now.comment image now.

slk5
slk5
4 years ago

it’ll look something like this…comment image

CharlieSeattle
CharlieSeattle
4 years ago

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Help may be on the way! <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>> Cheer on the Christian Warsaw Pact! <<<<<<<<<<<<<<

German Chancellor Angela Merkel retreated to Berchtesgaden with her muslim refugee sycophants chanting, Allahu Akbar! Sieg Heil!

France is expected to surrender out of hand.

Britain threatens to flood the English Chunnel to stop them.

Italy will join the winning side, as usual. Update at 11PM.

R. Arandas
R. Arandas
4 years ago

Or United Caliphate 2.0!!

Halal Bacon
Halal Bacon
4 years ago

midget shitslamist says what? Fawk you I’m millwall! the gall of a simpleton mayor, thinks he’s got some kind of pull – or common purpose…LOL

felix1999
felix1999
4 years ago

comment image

MuhamMUDTheFakeProphet
MuhamMUDTheFakeProphet
4 years ago

This muslum mayor sounds like Latrine’s kinda guy!

ace wheeler
ace wheeler
4 years ago

The Brits had no 2A so the Muslims went straight to the 1A.

Rocinante44
Rocinante44
4 years ago

well, 400 or 500 years ago the brits were burning at the stake those who dared to publish the bible in english, so i guess we’ve come full circle in england. nothing shows better than this what happens to a nation that allows muslim in….they will destroy you when given a chance. try street preaching in 2019 in flintistan or minnesotastan, you’ll be beaten to death in minutes by muslims wihle the cops stand by and watch. you’ve been warned

aemoreira1981
aemoreira1981
4 years ago

What is not shown is: what happened before the police encounter. That does matter, as trespass on private property (where the property boundary can be clearly delineated) would negate freedom of speech.

0349 JAT
0349 JAT
4 years ago

When we bend our laws to accommodate islam soon the muslim savages will bend us to their law.

felix1999
felix1999
4 years ago
Reply to  0349 JAT

It’s weak appeasement and they know it. It emboldens them.

CharlieSeattle
CharlieSeattle
4 years ago
Reply to  0349 JAT

The British police have “”seriously”” completed their muslim diversity sensitivity training.

They understand now that muslims are merely practicing their religious freedom, as enshrined in the koran, that permits sexual slavery, rape, forced conversion, assault, murder and genocide!

The police stand aside now, smile and applaud with a quiet opera clap of approval.

However, patriots like Tommy Robinson that expose the truth are arrested.

rickyoo
rickyoo
4 years ago
Reply to  CharlieSeattle

British police are nothing more than Muslim minders. They are a total disgrace. I have seen many videos of Muslim hate preachers out on the streets and the PC police just walk by. How many times have we seen these Muslims protesting in the streets with insulting banners, threatening death to non believers and Islam will dominate the world plus many others that are anti British, but none of them are stopped or arrested by the feckless police. If Christians held banners supporting their beliefs and threatened Islam they would be banned, plus many would be arrested.

CharlieSeattle
CharlieSeattle
4 years ago
Reply to  CharlieSeattle

Hitler and Stalin were paranoid egotists that did not play well together.

Churchill could see that.

CharlieSeattle
CharlieSeattle
4 years ago
Reply to  CharlieSeattle

Sadly, none in Longlac, Ontario.

CharlieSeattle
CharlieSeattle
4 years ago
Reply to  CharlieSeattle

Only Churchill’s force of will kept Britain from seeking a separate peace.

It almost happened.

Dennis
Dennis
4 years ago

The real menace that has now become the rule, rather than
the exception, is the European countries
have lost their special quality of freedom of speech and expression
because they did not immediately stand up to the Islamic community which is so
super sensitize to any sought of criticism that they will suppress it at all
costs. Islam is an Arab/African belief system founded in societies that require
its people to believe that their Deity demands of them that they dominate all
non- Muslims, and as a result they reject any others right to preach another
faith publicly. What follows, for all to see, is their unwillingness to allow
criticism of their belief system. They approach criticism the same way the Nazi’s
and Fascists , and Communists did, and that was to shut any down criticism,
even if such criticism is justified. I see that happening here and I fear it
will get much worse. Any belief system that is flawed, and Islam certainly has
significant flaws, should be the subject of fair, reasonable and responsible
criticism. To that criticism they can urge their own claims or defenses, but to
crush the right to non-violently criticize is objectionable, and from my
perspective violates all that we hold dearly here in the states.

Evangeline1031
Evangeline1031
4 years ago
Reply to  Dennis

They are only using the system available to them. Conveniently, Western societies have all become so obsessed with political correctness that it is super easy to use that alone to silence dissent or criticism. We see that despite all the noise, the West actually has no problem with misogyny, child abuse, brutality against women, etc., if it is committed by a follower of Islam. That is because they pee their pants in fear of Islam, they are fundamentally moral cowards with no substance. And the West is too ignorant and poorly educated to know it means the end for them.

Dennis
Dennis
4 years ago
Reply to  Evangeline1031

From your female perspective that is very true, but you are absolutely right, and I have continuously made the same comments. Good for you to see the reality.

Bill
Bill
4 years ago

Why any American would vacation in that hell hole is beyond me

Antileft
Antileft
4 years ago

This is what they do in dictatorships. Great Britain has become a dictatorship.

CharlieSeattle
CharlieSeattle
4 years ago
Reply to  Antileft

The USA should demand the British and French governments turn over all their nukes before the muslims finish taking over completely.

Ari
Ari
4 years ago
Reply to  Antileft

London’s muslim mayor wants to be a dictator of the city. comment image A BBC TV news presenter

Ban Islam
Ban Islam
4 years ago

By the time people realize Muslims are worse than Nazis, it’ll be too late, they’ll have taken over the govt and will use the state resources to jail/kill opponents of Islam, force everyone to submit/convert or live as slaves/dhimmis and they will turn Christian/non-Muslim girls into sex-slaves, the same thing they did to the Yazidis.

ISIS is what you get when Muslims have more power than non-Muslims. When we outnumber them and have more power they pretend to be Liberal and peaceful. Leftists will only realize their mistake when they’re marched off to death camps.

AngryBlonde
AngryBlonde
4 years ago

WE THE PEOPLE will not help you out of this mess! You allowed it to happen, fight it yourself!!

Poppey
Poppey
4 years ago
Reply to  AngryBlonde

Take a look around you AB, don’t you think you’re in the same situation ?
Ever heard of the political tactic of “leading beyond authority” ?
Look at the BREXIT situation, parliament ordered by a democratic vote acting against the wishes of the people.

AngryBlonde
AngryBlonde
4 years ago

Ilesanmi, Bless you for following God’s word……………

Buck
Buck
4 years ago

Past time to run the Muslim out of Britain .

CharlieSeattle
CharlieSeattle
4 years ago
Reply to  Buck

In every WESTERN country where Muslims are in the minority, they are obsessed with minority rights.
In every ISLAMIC country with a Muslim majority, …there are no minority rights!

islam is NOT a religion of peace, a race nor one of peace!!
islam is a sick and twisted terrorist ideology that is completely incompatible with western civilization!!

Deport all muslims, CITIZENS OR NOT, from the west at once!!
Ban all muslims from traveling to the west, …FOREVER
Implement muslim control, NOT gun control.

Defending your person, your family, your country from attack and invasion from those forcing a violent, terrorist, genocidal ideology on western civilization…is …not … islamophobia ….or racist. ….It is just common sense.

The people of Europe, Britain and Canada must throw down their treasonous leaders forcing this evil upon them.

…………………….The USA just did, Nov. 2016!

talladega
talladega
4 years ago

London, and many major cities in Britain have Muslim street-booths with encouragement to study the Quran, etc. British police turn a blind-eye to these. If you think Sweden is doomed, and you’re correct, Britain isn’t far behind. What surprises me, as one with English and Welsh ancestry, is how a Muslim got elected as mayor of London. It is the apathy of ‘original’ Brits that caused this – possibly NOT voting in the belief it could never happen – BUT it has, and with exponential increases in Muslim population, the end is nigh. Muamed Qadafi is known to have said “Why resort to jihad, when we will over-populate the West in 50 years”. Thrilled I won’t be around then.

im lost
im lost
4 years ago

so the little londonstan mayor man really happy to terrorise christians

Alleged-Comment
Alleged-Comment
4 years ago

No right-minded policeman would ever bother to carry out this order. But because they did they have SOULED out their country.

Britain is now SOULESS. Ripe for destruction as the Bible foretold.

Joy Daniels Brower
Joy Daniels Brower
4 years ago

London is being “screwed, brewed & tatood” (my late husband’s favorite expression for someone getting “screwed” – but not in the sexual sense!). Having that POS as a Mayor is a BIG step in bringing Shariah Law, Islamism and. eventually, a return of the Caliphate to a once formerly great capital world city!!

Roma Mikhasev
Roma Mikhasev
4 years ago

This EU will destroy ALL Christians in Europe!
FOR MERKEL & SOROS!!!

Roma Mikhasev
Roma Mikhasev
4 years ago

Choose as mayors the representatives of the most peaceful religion in the world and your countries will turn into Pakistan !!!

Pantalones
Pantalones
4 years ago

That midget mayor is giving us some taqqiya js

vercingetorix
vercingetorix
4 years ago

A christian preacher is questioned, harassed, arrested and prevented by the police from exercising his most basic rights only for preaching christianity in a country that used to consider itself a “christian nation under the sun”, while muslim hate-preachers, sharia-police, and foreign terror-sympathizers can come and go and spread freely whatever poison comes into their sick brains………
The craddle of democracy and democratic parliamentarism is finished.

Andy
Andy
4 years ago
Reply to  vercingetorix

no 1st or 2nd amendment= screwed and powerless

Patriotliz
Patriotliz
4 years ago

Rise and Fall of Western Civilization (in a nutshell):

Paganism->
Christianity->
Basic Human Rights->
Anti-Christian Secularism->
ISLAM->
No Human Rights.
comment image

iprazhm
iprazhm
4 years ago

This is what happens when useful idiots elect muslims to rule over them. Christianity is soon made illegal. This is what will happen in America because treacherous useful idiots are casting their precious vote for islamists. Islamists linked to the terrorist group, ‘Muslim Brotherhood’. If Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) had their way, all U.S. Christians and Jews would either be dead, imprisoned or paying the Jizya. And they aren’t the only jihadis holding public office in America. There are thousands of them in state and local governments. There are many working as sharia law judges and police chiefs, or police officers. They are doctors, lawyers and teachers. Many are killing citizens, all are spreading islam. They are threaded throughout our country, with much of the credit going to Barrack Hussein Obama, the head U.S. jihadi.

Tm.
Tm.
4 years ago

Christians being persecuted the world over. It is simply shameful.
What was that poor man doing with his Bible in hand? He was disturbing no one. He was gentle and soft spoken.
I shall not set foot there, and I check everything I buy, I shall not buy products from there.
Pray for that man, his faith is great. I could weep for his plight. Let him go, and give him back his Bible.

felix1999
felix1999
4 years ago
Reply to  Tm.

I have more respect for that man than many clergy here in the U.S. feverishly competing for a mega church with a useless politically correct message.

Anthony Bajada
Anthony Bajada
4 years ago

Life imitating Art: Welcome to the London of V FOR VENDETTA courtesy of Chancellor Sadiq Khan!

James
James
4 years ago

I’m wondering why this is a surprise to anyone. What did people think was going to happen when Islam took over? It shouldn’t have taken any brains at all to see that Islam is incompatible with anything resembling a normal society. There is no human dignity in Islam, there are no such thing as human rights, there is no nook or cranny of existence that is not to be pounded in to submission by Islam when Islam is in charge. So, it must be that people have no brains and that’s why they are such mindless zombies with no consciousness, let alone any sort of wisdom.

jag11
jag11
4 years ago

KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHN! It’s ok for him to lie to infidels.

Scooby Doo
Scooby Doo
4 years ago

FU KHAN U PIECE OF DOG CRAP! MOHAMMED WAS AND IS A PEDOPHILE WHO DESERVES NO NADA ZILCH RESPECT! ISLAM IS A SATANIC CULT AND JESUS CHRIST IS THE SON OF GOD! I HOPE EVERY CHRISTIAN IN LONDON WALKS AROUND WITH A SIGN PROCLAIMING THIS TRUTH TO THIS LOW LIFE COWARDLY CHRISTIAN HATING POOR EXCUSE FOR A MAYOR!

rickyoo
rickyoo
4 years ago
Reply to  Scooby Doo

I have more respect for a pile of dog crap than this excuse for a human being. It is high time the British people rose up and condemned this POS and all his filthy followers that are destroying what is left of the country. Most Muslims are cowards and once they realize that the majority of people hate them and their evil ideology they might start to get concerned. Kudos to the hero who smashed the windows of several mosques. It is time to start fighting back. I can honestly say that I for one did not lose any sleep after learning of the New Zealand massacre. That stupid New Zealand Prime Minister fawning over this attack and saying “we are all one” is confirmation of their evil cult to these inbred brainwashed vermin. She even wore a headscarf to show her support. Muslims must laugh at our weakness with leaders like this stupid woman.

Evangeline1031
Evangeline1031
4 years ago

If the Brits are okay with this, then they’ve made their choice. It’s hard to pity them at this point, since there is no perceivable pushback. I guess they’re alright with it. Bad for the world though, to see GB goes full Islam. Bye bye Great Britain.

Rider
Rider
4 years ago

Cursed be London

lil
lil
4 years ago

so its ok for a foreign Muslim to preach islam on the english streets of the uk but seems its not ok
for a English Christian to preach Christianity on the english streets of the uk… seems true english people cant do english things in there own country anymore without upsetting muslims

lil
lil
4 years ago

so its ok for a foreign Muslim to preach islam on the english streets of the uk but seems its not ok
for a English Christian to preach Christianity on the english streets of the uk… seems true english people cant do english things in there own country anymore without upsetting muslims

Name
Name
4 years ago

England is now a muslim country.

coconuisse
coconuisse
4 years ago

We already have the sister city to London here in the U.S.A. It’s called Dearborn, Mi.

wtr
wtr
4 years ago

Well I guess it’s Britain’s turn for the English people rise to up and chase all the foreigners out of their country

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