In Defence of Religious Belief and Expression
June 24, 2010 by Paul McKeever · Leave a Comment
Four men appear on a public street, outside of the perimeter of an “Arab Festival”. The town reportedly has a large population of Muslims. The men hand out free copies of the Gospel of John – written in both English and Arabic translations – to those who approach them. Within 30 seconds, 8 or more police officers converge on the location and approach the men. The men are taken into custody as a crowd of Muslims cry “Allahu Akbar” (“God is Great!”). Their video camera is confiscated. They are told by police that they may not distribute the Gospel of John anywhere within 5 blocks of the Arab Festival. They are essentially told that if they distribute the Gospel within 5 blocks of the Arab Festival, they will be committing the crime of disturbing the peace (or assault, or inciting a right, or some such offence). It is arguably a violation of Sharia law for a non-Muslim to proselytize a Muslim.
The men are not in an Arabic country. They are not in a European city. They are in Dearborn, Michigan, USA, and the police arresting them are bound by the provisions of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Read more
Free Speech, Policing, and Falsified Assault as a Pretext for Arrest
June 12, 2010 by Paul McKeever · 2 Comments
The video speaks for itself.
Within one minute after the peaceful arrival of two Canadians at the Niagara Falls constituency office of Canada’s Justice Minister, Rob Nicholson, a police officer arrives on motorcycle. He says he has been called to the scene. He asks that the video camera recording him be turned off. When the camera person refuses to do so, the officer – shockingly – asserts that the camera filming him is “interpreted as a weapon”. Read more
