A man was arrested in Manchester, England, on Saturday after appearing to burn a copy of the Qur’an in the city centre.
Greater Manchester Police said that a 47-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence, the Manchester Evening News reported.
Assistant Chief Constable Stephanie Parker said: “We understand the deep concern this will cause within some of our diverse communities and are aware of a live video circulating.
“We made a swift arrest at the time and recognise the right people have for freedom of expression, but when this crosses into intimidation to cause harm or distress we will always look to take action when it is reported to us.”
Footage of the incident was published on the X social media platform, with a man appearing to burn pages of the Islamic religious text at the Glade of Light memorial, which honours the victims of the 2017 Islamist terror attack at the Manchester Arena.
It comes just days after the fatal shooting of Salwan Momika in Sweden. The Iraqi-born “liberal atheist” activist had risen to international prominence for burning copies of the Qur’an on multiple occasions. So far, police have arrested five people in connection to the shooting.
While it is not technically illegal to burn the Qur’an in the UK, police have broad authority to arrest protesters under various hate crime laws.
In 2023, the British government banned Danish politician Rasmus Paludan from entering the country after he vowed to burn a copy of the Qur’an in Wakefield after local students were suspended for allegedly desecrating a copy of the text.
While the cover of the book had been torn and some pages were damaged, the school’s headmaster found that there was “no malicious intent by those involved”.
Police did not charge any of the four Kettlethorpe High School pupils; however, they did record it as a “hate incident” and gave “words of advice” to one of the students.
One of the children, a 14-year-old boy with autism, was said to have received multiple death threats over the incident.
