It was reported that a Christian street preacher called in a counter-terrorism police squad after he publicly called a trans woman a man and criticized homosexuality, earning him a criminal offense.
David McConnell, 42, who is regularly berated in the streets for expressing his controversial views on sexuality, is appealing this week against his 2021 conviction.
The probation service ran a report on McConnell to assist sentencing magistrates, noting that his faith had turned him from a “troubled, aimless past” to become a “hard-working family man.”
It can now be revealed that the probation officer has stated that since McConnell is “considered to be persistently and illegally taking an extreme point of view,” the officer “maintained routine contact with my colleagues on the Joint Counter Terrorism Team.”
The probation report added, “She [CTT] have no further information on Mr. McConnell that would suggest that their intervention would be likely or helpful.’
Street preacher David McConnell, 42, was reported to anti-terror police for statements he made about being a trans person
Campaigners who supported his cause spoke of their alarm that people were being labeled potential terrorists for disagreeing with “LGBTQ ideology.”
McConnell was addressing a crowd in Leeds city center in June 2021 when he was filmed saying that ‘adulterers, drunkards and homosexuals shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven’.
The rental agent, from Wakefield, was politely asked by a trans woman who was filming him if he thought LGBTQ people were accepted by God.
The pastor replied that homosexuality was an “abomination in the sight of God” and that lesbianism was “unnatural.”
According to reports of the incident, McConnell loudly and repeatedly referred to the trans woman as “this gentleman” and “a man in women’s clothing” during his response, and that the victim found this disturbing because she had been out in front of a crowd of strangers. .
He continued to preach and was reportedly verbally abused by members of the public, assaulted, and at one point had possessions stolen, including an amplifier.
When a police officer showed up, McConnell refused to accept that he was doing anything illegal, but was arrested and held for 14 hours.
The preacher has been criticized for comments he has made about trans and gay people, including the fact that homosexuality was an “abomination.”
Andrea Williams, managing director of the Christian Legal Center, said yesterday: “What state are we in as a society if the police fail to protect a street preacher who is assaulted, assaulted and whose property is stolen simply because he has no biological reality?” has declared? The abuse against David McConnell didn’t stop there – he was arrested, convicted and reported to counter-terrorism.
“This case represents a disturbing trend in our society, with members of the public and professionals being prosecuted and reported as potential terrorists for refusing to celebrate and endorse LGBTQ ideology.”
She added that the police had acted in a “deeply illiberal” manner in arresting McConnell and added: “The Bible clearly teaches that we are born male and female; this belief and the freedom to express it publicly without fear of being arrested or reported to Prevent as a terrorist must be protected.’
McConnell said, “George Orwell said, ‘Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two makes four. If that is allowed, everything else will follow.’ By this he meant that if we cannot speak truthfully, society will fall apart.
“That’s what’s happening right now. When I was told I was reported to counter-terrorism, all I thought was, ‘What happened to this country?’
“The way I’ve been treated is totally unreasonable and should appeal to anyone who cares about Christian freedoms and freedom of expression in this country.”
McConnell has been preaching on the streets of Northern England for over 15 years to ‘share the message of the Bible’.
He was ordered to do 80 hours of unpaid work after being convicted by the Leeds Magistrates Court of causing harassment, alarm or fear under the Public Order Act.
Commenting on the case last year, Elizabeth Wright of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said: ‘People have a right to have an opinion and to express their opinion. But when words cross the line between a legitimate expression of religious beliefs and become disturbing and threatening, the CPS will prosecute violators if our legal test is met.”