In a first of its kind event, a man with a little girl on his shoulders paraded before the Britain’s parliament draped in an Islamic State flag while his daughter waved a smaller version of flag, with police maintaining that the duo were “within the law.”
While the police has been criticized for failing to arrest the man who was seen wandering near the Houses of Parliament, the UK Metropolitan police has in a statement said that the actions of the man in question were not considered to be unlawful.
“Wearing, carrying or displaying of an emblem or flag, by itself, is not an offence unless the way in which, or the circumstance in which, the emblem is worn, carried or displayed is such as to cause reasonable suspicion that the person is a supporter or member of a proscribed organisation,” the statement read.
“While support of and membership of ISIS is unlawful it is not a criminal offence to advocate the creation of an independent state,” it added.
The police’s inaction at the man with Islamic State flag draped on his body has drawn outrage on social media.
Feature image source: Twitter
(With inputs from agencies)