East London police have arrested five
men in connection to a series of incidents in which a so-called
“Muslim patrol” targeted gays and others.
The men describe themselves as
“vigilantes implementing Islam upon your own necks” in videos
they uploaded to YouTube.com. In one video, a man is chased out of
the area at nighttime for looking like a “fag.”
The men are heard harassing the man,
informing him that he is “walking through a Muslim area dressed
like a fag.” (The videos have since been removed but footage can
be seen in the embedded report. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
Police have arrested 5 men between the
ages of 17 and 29.
According to The
Guardian, the East London Mosque has condemned the
actions, calling the harassment “utterly unacceptable.”
“This incident is yet another
reminder of the homophobic abuse that gay people face all too often,”
the gay rights group Stonewall said in a statement. “We urge
victims of all homophobic crimes and incidents to report them to the
police and for the police to take action to protect gay people from
these disturbing crimes.”
Police have urged the victims to step
forward.