Police arrested a man in South West London on July 1 for using homophobic speech while street preaching.
Tony Miano, a US citizen, was questioned by the police after a member of the public called them to the scene. He had been speaking on the subject of sexual immorality and the need to abstain from it based on a passage from the Bible (1 Thessalonians 4.1-12).
Mr. Miano was arrested and taken to the local police station.
Interview questions
He was interviewed by the investigating officer with his solicitor, Michael Phillips, instructed by the Christian Legal Centre. One of the questions the officer asked was whether Mr. Miano would help a homosexual who asks him for a ‘favour’. Mr. Miano indicated that he would by saying: ‘The word of God tells me to love my neighbour as myself. So if a homosexual walked up to me and said, I’m hungry and I need something to eat, I would go with them to the nearest restaurant, give them something to eat, and share the gospel with them because I love them’.
The two final questions that the officer asked him were: ‘Do you feel that what you did... is 100% acceptable in a public place and will you do this again tomorrow?’ Mr. Miano replied affirmatively to both questions. The investigating officer told Mr. Miano’s solicitor that his answers to these last two questions left him no choice but to seek prosecution.
He was then escorted back to his cell and given, upon request, a Bible to read — the very book whose teachings had led to his arrest.
About an hour later, the investigating officer entered Mr. Miano’s cell and told him that the inspector had decided to release him with no further action. At midnight Mr. Miano was released after just over seven hours in custody.
Mr. Miano said: ‘I did not speak solely about homosexuality as a form of sexual immorality, but also about any kind of sex outside of marriage between one man and one woman, as well as lustful thoughts. All of these are considered mainstream Christian positions and have been taught and believed by Christians for thousands of years. I was being interrogated about my thoughts … that is the basic definition of thought police’.
