Christian Pastor Arrested For Preaching Biblical Marriage, Accused Of Being Homophobic

A pastor was detained after preaching the bible about marriage outside Uxbridge Station. Pastor John Sherwood, 71, was accused of teaching "homophobic" remarks. According to The Daily Mail, his detention was done in such a way that the elderly man said he was bruised and treated "shamefully."

After being accused of making homophobic remarks, Sherwood was arrested and interrogated in a police station overnight. He claimed he was aggressively handcuffed after police dragged him off a mini-stepladder he was standing in.

In a press statement, Sherwood said, “I wasn't making any homophobic comments, I was just defining marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman. I was only saying what the Bible says – I wasn't wanting to hurt anyone or cause offense.”

The police arrested Sherwood after receiving complaints from bystanders claiming that the old man was making 'allegedly homophobic comments.' They proceed to arrest him under Section 5 Public Order Act when someone is saying 'abusive or insulting words' that cause 'harm' to someone else.

Sherwood was later released without charge. His case will be reviewed by the Crown Prosecution Service.

On the video footage, the Met officers are seen pulling Sherwood down the stepladder. Bystanders cry out to take it easy on the old pastor when he was dragged away into a police car.

However, a spokeswoman for the Met Police said its directorate of professional standards had reviewed the video recordings of Sherwood's detention and found no proof of police misconduct.

“Everything he said was bible-based. He was not saying anything abusive; he is a Christian minister. There did not seem to be any recognition from the police that Christian ministers and such views exist,” said in a statement by Pastor Peter Simpson, Minister of Penn Free Methodist Church in Buckinghamshire.

He also called the pastor's detention a "dangerous assault" on freedom of speech of Christian ministers to publicly preach Biblical teachings.

Meanwhile, Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said that there are laws to protect the freedom to preach [religion] in public. She continued to say that officers are eager to apprehend with the slightest hint that a bystander is offended because of the dominant cancel culture.