Timothy Miller, of Southampton, attended court wearing a burqa, Islamic modesty garb worn by women under Sharia law, and carried a black purse. When Portsmouth Magistrates' Court District Judge Stephen Apted asked "can you remove your face covering so we can identify you please?" Miller lifted the veil and gave his name, birth date, and address.
Miller was charged with using a burqa to conceal his identity during a protest in Portsmouth on September 12 but he told the judge that was not guilty. "As I am in every police camera, I am not guilty," he said. As for his legal defense, he said "The issue quite simply is we should be all living under one law of which I think everybody is under agreement," LBC reported.
Miller, 76, was praised by Brendan O'Neill in The Spectator for showing the folly of the two-tier justice system at play in the UK. "On 12 September," O'Neill writes, "he was arrested at an anti-immigration protest for parading about in an entombing niqab. The cops accused him of using the Islamic veil to conceal his identity: Not so, he replied: I really am an aging student of Allah."
In court, he repeated the claims, saying that he is "studying" Islam. He claimed that wearing the burqa is just part of his study, to get a "greater understanding" of the practice of Islam.
"I'm just here for the glorious spectacle of an old English fella in full mediaeval garb," O'Neill wrote, going on to say "he's braver than any British comic I can think of. It feels so deliciously blasphemous, but in an entirely English way. It's like someone put Benny Hill and Sam Harris in a blender. One might even say it's a heroic feminist stunt..."
Miller told the judge he was permitted to wear the burqa in court because he had an "exemption" for Islamic religious observance, just like all the others who practice Islam seem to have when they are called into court or do deal with law enforcement authorities. Miller said he was "entitled to" the exemption, "therefore it was an exemption for which I told the police."
He was asked by the court if his religion was Islam, and he said "I do not feel I should answer this question because nobody is asked this question when they come into the country."
"What I say is happening here is the movement generally by law and everything that we are moving towards an Islamic society, therefore it is more beneficial to me to have a full understanding and belief, that’s what I am doing," he said. "I think we are going down a very dangerous path questioning people about their religion, I think at the moment Jews are under the same pressure."
He noted that he wasn't asked to remove his burqa during the protest and that he was in compliance with the law as a devotee of Islam. Miller was released upon bail pending his February 16 trial date.
The September 12 protests at Portsmouth saw angry English citizens standing up against the onslaught of boats full of migrants heading into the country. The government ushered the illegal migrants in, put them on buses and set them up with housing accommodations while arrested the English who sought to preserve their country.
There have been consisted allegations leveled against government and law enforcement that they prioritize Muslim minorities and their preferences over those of UK residents and the case of Timothy Miller shows this in stark relief.
