See Moment police officer defends Christian preacher's freedom of speech after Whitechapel group say 'This is a Muslim area' | Daily Mail Online

This is the moment a police officer defends a Christian preacher in Whitechapel and is told: 'This is a muslim area.' 

The confrontation sees a female Met Police officer being surrounded by males and telling them: 'In this country, we have freedom of speech.' 

She continued: 'I understand that you guys don't want to hear it, so I would just recommend that you walk away and don't listen to him. He's not in your home.' 

In a noisy and chaotic scene, a man wearing a black surgical mask appears to tell the officer in reply: 'This is Whitechapel, this is a Muslim area.'

The Scotland Yard officer has been widely praised for how she handled the situation, and, in some quarters, was hailed as a hero. 

The situation at times threatened to boil over, with footage from the encounter in Whitechapel Road widely shared on social media. 

A male clutching a microphone and Bible can be heard preaching the Gospel in the viral footage, which is believed to have happened on Monday, a day before Ramadan began.

It took place just yards from the East London Mosque, one of the largest in Western Europe, which can accommodate up to 7,000 worshippers for daily prayers. 

In one clip, a bearded male shouts at the preacher 'talk about Jesus, don't talk about Muhammad. Don't say Muhammad.' 

A male wearing a knee-length black duffel coat and mask then shoves the preacher in the back, which causes him to stumble forward. 

Another man is later repeatedly heard shouting at the preacher: 'Your God is a Jew.'

A male later explained to the female officer that he phoned police as the preacher was 'talking about the prophet, then he said like a donkey' which was upsetting 'hundreds of people' walking past.