Conservative councillor Anthony Stevens from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England, revealed he was arrested earlier this month for an alleged hate crime for posts he made on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Stevens told the Telegraph that he was arrested at his home for a public order offense under section 19 of the Public Order Act 1986. He said he was questioned by police and they determined that he is suspected of distributing written material to stir up racial hatred.
One of the posts he was questioned on was a repost of a video in May that criticized how police treated Christian preacher Oluwole Ilisanmi during an arrest in 2019. In the video, police accused Ilisanmi of being Islamophobic as they ripped his Bible from him during the arrest in Southgate, London. It was later determined that Ilisanmi was wrongfully arrested and he was paid £2,500 for it.
Stevens said he was told that the post had originally been posted by a member of Britain First which they claimed is a "far-right political party." He claimed to not know what that organization is and that he reposted the video to show "disturbing evidence of religious discrimination in law enforcement”.
He claimed they also asked him if he believed Pride was a sin after he posted support for his fellow councilor King Lawal. Lawal was suspended by his local Conservative group for criticizing an LGBT pride organization when he asked, "When did pride become a thing to celebrate. Because of pride, Satan fell as an archangel. Pride is not a virtue but a sin. Those who have pride should repent of their sins and return to Jesus Christ. He can save you.”
Stevens posted a petition that said, “If you value free speech please sign and share.” When police asked him about the post, Stevens told them he was a "free speech absolutist" and "it did not matter whether he agreed with what he said or not, he believed he had the right to say it without having his life torn apart”.
The last post the police asked him about was where he expressed that the ability to burn a Koran is protected under someone's "right to free speech in a free society."
Defending free speech principles further, Stevens told the outlet, "It is appalling and bizarre to be brutally arrested for sharing a petition in defending the right to free speech of a fellow councillor." He continued, "The accusation of racial hatred is ridiculous and insulting. My only crime has been supporting the only black local councillor in Northamptonshire.”
“Defending free speech is not the same thing as agreeing with what has been said, or admiring who is saying this," Stevens added. "In a true democratic society, you cannot have people being arrested for a few Tweets. We must have debate, we must have the freedom to criticize and offend each other, otherwise, this country is going to swiftly go to pot."
“If elected members cannot share their beliefs or support each other in their right to share their beliefs without losing our jobs and being arrested, then we are in a very dark place," he concluded.
Stevens was released on bail and is receiving support from the Christian Legal Centre. He is planning to make a complaint to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
