A Muslim woman who screamed abuse at Pride goers in London, UK, this summer has pleaded guilty to using threatening or abusive words to cause alarm.
In return, a judge yesterday sentenced her to three months in prison, suspended for 12 months. She must also pay nine people £100 ($123) each in compensation and attend anger management training. She will avoid jail if she manages to keep out of trouble.
The incident took place on July, 27, in the east London borough of Waltham Forest.
Disgusting homophobic abuse at those on Waltham Forest Pride today.
No matter what form hate comes in, we must stamp it out and say no to all forms of hate! Also, very importantly we cannot call out one form of hate but be silent/complicit on others. @GalopUK @stonewalluk pic.twitter.com/kDAFoAb8Vw
— Yusuf Patel (@YusufJP_) July 27, 2019
The district was holding its first Pride parade. The woman in question, Jamila Choudhury, 38, of Folkestone Road, Walthamstow, was at work as a receptionist at the Blue Leaf Cupping Clinic on the local main street when the Pride parade walked past.
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Furious at what she saw, Choudhury, wearing a niqab, ran outside to start shouting, “Shame at you” at several of those taking part. Caught on video, much of her anger appeared directed at a woman wearing a rainbow flag. A Pride steward attempted to intervene but Choudhury continued shouting.
“God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,” she screamed.
“Shame on you, shame on all of you. Shame on you, you despicable people.
Several of those attending filmed the incident and shocking footage quickly went viral.
Choudhury was quickly identified and questioned by the police. She was later charged with a homophobic hate crime public order offense.
Related: WATCH: 2 guys drive away a Christian Pride protestor by passionately making out
One of those targeted by Choudhury gave a victim statement to the Thames Magistrates Court.
“I was very shocked… to be confronted by a Muslim woman in full niqab.
“I was shaken, she because she came out aggressively shouting and pointing abuse to the marchers, which included children, including my grandson.
“The woman shouting the abuse to the group has deeply upset me because I have nothing but love for the Muslim community.”
Choudhury’s lawyer told the court his client now felt “ashamed” of her actions.
“She said to me that when she had to sit down and see the footage, she felt more devastated than she had ever been.
“She didn’t recognize who she saw.
“What she did recognize is extremely angry behavior.
“She felt ashamed.”
Related: Queer Muslim activist Shawn Ahmed reflects on Pride, Orlando, and his faith
He also said she a mum of five young children and had long suffered from medical problems, including auto-immune disease.
Choudhury was already under a one-year community order for abusing a transport worker at a local underground station in March. She called the employee a “black piece of trash” and subsequently faced a racially aggravated public order charge.
In addition to the suspended sentence and fines, the judge ordered Choudhury to attend a 40-day anger management training. She also permitted Choudhury to pay off her fines at £10 ($12.30) installments per week.
djmcgamester
I’m not on board with words being a criminal offense. The one and only time I was the subject of verbal abuse was when I marched on Washington in 1993. Fred Phelps and his clan were there spewing their hate, verbally and with signs. As I held my boyfriend’s hand during the march, I flipped him the bird. Do I think he ought to be arrested for what he said? No. I’m fairly resilient when it comes to words.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
We got them for ya! I was at a pride parade in New York City and this vile nasty abhorrent skeletal puke and his whole group of nine people were screaming their inane d-bag rants at gay people. suddenly a group of people just started chanting at them “FCUK YOU” we looked up above and there were a group of people on the fire escape and they were motioning everyone to move away as everybody backed somebody dumped a bucket and dumped a bucket of sh*t and piss all over them it was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen seen them screaming horror getting exactly what they deserved.
Divine retribution from above
:-p
Vince
Ha. I’ve always said a well placed balloon at a few of them would have the desired effect. Although these days they’re usually surrounded by police. 🙁
Raphael
I’m on board with words being a criminal offense. I, as a gay man, tax payer and member of the society, also have rights! Yes, you can have your opinions and say whatever you want, as long as it doesn’t interfere with my rights… Harassment it’s not “free speech”! On your everyday life, you can’t just go to some stranger on the street and shout in their face, curse them, follow them around. Why should it be allowed in this situation!?
Brian
Raphael, please tell me you’re not in the United States.
Raphael
Brian, please tell me you know where Waltham Forest is… Either way, even if we were talking about the US, my opinion remains the same! Even in the US (which, by the way, has less freedom than most countries I know), you can’t harass people just because you disagree with them.
rustyiam
@ Raphael f*k off
tikijazz
@rapheal. You are totally right…harassment is not free speech.
Josh447
Josh447
I think there are many that are incredibly effected by hate speech and a good stint in jail for the predators, religious folk included even if just a weekend, to reflect on how publicly hateful one is along with restitution and posting what I’ll call a babysitting fine, could be a god send to many. I say to wake them up “lock’em up!”.
Brian
And you would also be fine with this if it happened to protesters who were on the side you agree with?
Josh447
If me or my party were publicly screaming hate speech at a minority then yeah lock us up. Peaceful protest is fine if there is no hate speech in writing or being vocalize.
This is how Canada works and I fully support prosecution for hate speech.
Raphael
Some good sense, finally! That’s why everyone loves Canada, the best place in the world, no doubt!
rustyiam
@ josh and I suppose that YOU get to decide what is and isn’t hate speech???
gymmuscleboy
@rustyiam Exactly; “YOU get to decide what is and isn’t hate speech” <— this is the essential reason why hate speech laws are unsustainable at best. History has shown us that it never works. I don't know why people keep forgetting this. Is this taught in USA schools (because it is not taught elsewhere)?
Pii
gymmuscleboy. where is your proof that hate speech laws don’t work because they certainly do here in Canada, and Great Britain and several European countries. Without them you have fundamentalist preachers and politicians and right wing extremists calling for their flocks and followers to kill gays and to lock them in prison camps and deny their rights. We ‘ve all seen the violence it breeds. Hows that working out for you?
gymmuscleboy
@Pii You’re forgetting censorship in Nazi Germany. What about the Soviet Union? What makes you think hate speech laws will always be on your side? Freedom of speech works because fundamentalism and extremism can be called out for what it is. Anything less is unsustainable because conflicting groups will always be vying to define what “hate speech” is – and it won’t always be what YOU think it is.
Josh447
Haha hell yeah, of course I get to decide hate speech while I’m being hand cuffed.
Sorry to break it to you but cops enforce the law, not civilians.
Yup. Canada fking rocks.
gymmuscleboy
@Pii WRONG – the law ALREADY prevents inciting violence and killing people. That is a felony.
Hussain-TheCanadian
Ofcourse this BS would not happen in Canada, the cops would arrest her rather than protect her, shes causing a public disturbance, spewing hate speech, and her choice of dress is a crime against fashion.
Pii
gymmuscleboy. Nazi’s rose to power BASED on hate, fear, lies, nationalism and by targeting minorities. I haven’t forgotten about Nazi Germany its hard to forget about it when we in Canada see history repeating itself right next door to us.
The law does not PREVENT inciting violence and killing people. It sometimes prosecutes it but it doesn’t prevent it.I refer you to the article about the murdered transgender women.
gymmuscleboy
@Pii It is already illegal to incite violence and killing
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Miserable vile crunt runs around wrapped in a moldy odorusr carpet.
Just spreading the love via the “religion of peace”….
Cam
So she wants acceptance for herself and attacks everybody else.
My one question after reading the following…. “Choudhury was already under a one-year community order for abusing a transport worker at a local underground station in March. She called the employee a “black piece of trash” and subsequently faced a racially aggravated public order charge.”
So this is not the first time she has done this, she’s already under a community order for racism, and harassing a public worker. Just how many ties does she have to do this before they stop suspending sentences?
Vince
Yeah, loony in the bee keeper outfit sure knows her shame since she lives in it. I guess she doesn’t own a mirror.
The UK’s Muslims are like the loony Christians here. The common thread is mental illness.
Michael007
” loony in the bee keeper outfit” BWAAAA-Haaaaaaa-Haaa!!!
Ksjnyc1
So human for the oppressed to oppress others they see as less than them. I used to date this Hispanic guy from New Orleans, and he hated black people. This baked my noodle. I am glad there are rules against hate speak. This is what a public shaming looks like.
Cam
Lesbians should hold hands in front of where she works and kiss where she can see, then have the cell phone cameras ready.
fingertrouble
She already had a community order for hate crimes? She should have been jailed.
stan2015
GOOD.
Invader7
The Muslim cow needs to fly back to her backwards country and get caught in a deadly sandstorm. Or maybe her just as phucked up male partner / husband will beat her some more. She and the trumpies are all the same SICKOS !! There will be a special place from ALL of them in HELL !!
Kangol2
You do realize that there are Muslim South Asians born in Britain, right? So her country very well may be the UK. I mean, responding to homophobia with xenophobia and racism is not a good look, under any circumstances.
gymmuscleboy
@Kangol2 If she was born in Britain, one could say she has hardly done a comprehensive job of assimilating. As such, although perhaps not a particularly nuanced response from the original commenter, I would say he is right to feel threatened and angry at this backwards, foreign culture oppressing him in his own country! Wouldn’t you?
gymmuscleboy
The reaction to this story neatly demonstrates that real freedom of speech exists in the USA but not the UK. However, given that the UK has chosen to go this route, it is nice to see a muslim being criminalised for their intolerance for a change.
On a side note, if the UK is going to control speech, why not ban that big black rubbish sack the woman is wearing? I imagine most people find it very threatening and distasteful.
Hussain-TheCanadian
What the…………..so shes gonna stand there with her niqab on, telling people who are peacefully marching the same old tired hate speech she borrowed from the 80s to lecture others about decency? I’m surprised she hasn’t been hit with a heat stroke while wearing her black cover up.
This is what happens when you let salafis in, they poison everything, the british government needs to place all salafi mosques under surveillance pronto, especially the one Choudhury and his mob attend.
Pii
gymmuscleboy There is no Soviet Union, it collapsed despite its censorship. Russia is an oligarchy that was supposed to be a Democracy. Putin hi jacked the process and trump is following in his footsteps.
Also if you think you have freedom of speech you are sorely mistaken, just ask Katy Griffin , all she did was hold up a mask with ketchup on it,
gymmuscleboy
@Pii You still don’t understand. I suggest you broaden your mind and think in terms of societal and demographic changes that occur over generations. In 100 years time, homosexuality may no longer be in favour among the masses. As such, if “hate speech” is the law of the land, the authorities will be well within their rights to mandate that “advocating homosexuality” is a hate speech against civility – as you find in muslim countries. You think you are being progressive but you are NOT considering the outcome when an opposing perspective gets to define “hate”. Sure – gay people get to define hate TODAY but it hasn’t always been that way and there is no reason to assume it will always stay that way. Look at history and look at how quickly the western world is changing demographically – it will not stay the same.
GayEGO
She and others like her needs to be educated about science and that God created all of us, not what old time religious people guessed what they thought God did.