Police pay up for acting to ‘cancel’ Christian preacher

WND 25 June 2021
A street preacher in the United Kingdom has won $4,500 in damages from authorities in Huddersfield after they arrested him for a “hate related public order offense,” only to discover that he had committed no crime.

The Christian Institute had backed David McConnell, who was preaching in the city’s center in December 2019 when he was arrested.

While McConnell was preaching, passersby heckled him with questions about sexuality and abortion, the institute reported, even though he had not been preaching on either subject.

Police then arrested him “for preaching on gay rights and abortion,” the report said.

But while McConnell was in jail, a policy sergeant listened to a recording of his preaching “and concluded that no offense had been committed.”

He was released without charge, but responded with a claim for damages, and recently the West Yorkshire Police conceded liability and agreed to pay 3,250 pounds sterling, or about $4,500.

McConnell said he didn’t blame police for responding, but he believes “they should have asked me for my side of the story instead of just arresting me.”

And he said the officers’ made some incorrect assumptions that he could have cleared up immediately but they wouldn’t even say on which charge they were arresting him.
READ MORE: https://www.wnd.com/2021/06/police-pay-acting-cancel-christian-preacher/