Forget terror plots, knife crime, or rampant theft, Britain’s police have bigger things to worry about—Christian street preachers. Shaun O’Sullivan, a 36-year-old preacher at the evangelical Awaken church in Swindon, was acquitted unanimously by a jury last week at Crown Court. He faced charges of racial and religious harassment against Muslims for saying the words: “Pray for the Jews and pray for the Palestinians.” This culminated in a six-day trial, costing an estimated £20,000.
This is by no means O’Sullivan’s first brush with the law. The preacher has been arrested 16 times now, but so far, none of the charges have stuck. Before his September arrest, he was put in handcuffs for saying “God bless you” to pro-Palestine protesters at a demonstration. In one clip he posted to TikTok after the incident, a female police officer can be heard confirming over the phone that this phrase is criminal, “if it causes distress.” The officer explains that, “if that person was a Muslim,” they could be distressed. The case was, thankfully, dropped.
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