Redhill station
Preacher Jesse Samuel Ngoma, filmed at Redhill station, arrested in London
The street preacher who drew a crowd at Redhill station earlier this month has been arrested by police in London.
Jesse Samuel Ngoma, a street evangelist with around 550,000 followers on Instagram, was filmed on 6 August speaking to commuters and passers-by at Redhill station, sharing a Christian message with people waiting for their trains. The footage was widely shared locally and prompted a long argument in the comments about whether that kind of preaching belongs in a railway station.
Six days later, footage began circulating that shows him being detained by officers in London. He had been preaching in the street outside a gay bar when police intervened.
Ngoma addresses the camera as he is led away, giving his own account of why it is happening:
“The reason I’m being arrested is because I’m preaching the name of Jesus.”
Jesse Samuel Ngoma, speaking as officers detained him
What police have said
Nothing, so far. No force has publicly confirmed what the arrest related to, whether Ngoma was charged, or whether he was released without further action. Several accounts of the footage describe the grounds given by officers as a breach of the peace.
Accounts also differ on where it happened, with some placing it in central London and at least one report putting it in Croydon.
An arrest is not a charge, and it is not a finding of guilt. People are arrested and released without further action every day, and a breach of the peace arrest in particular is a power to stop a situation escalating rather than an accusation that outlives it.
The footage has been shared widely by supporters saying he was arrested simply for preaching the Bible. That is their reading of an arrest whose circumstances are not yet public.
The Redhill connection
Plenty of people in the town saw the station footage when it went round locally, and recognised him straight away when the arrest clip appeared. That is why the story has travelled here as fast as it has.
Arrests of street preachers have been a subject of national argument in the UK over the past year, with several cases reported by national outlets and contested by campaign groups on free-speech grounds. Where this incident belongs in that argument depends on facts that are not yet public.
If you know more
If you were at Redhill station on 6 August, or you know more about what happened in London, get in touch with Surrey Extra through Instagram.