Police investigate Quran row as a ‘hate incident’ as free speech activists intervene.

The Free Speech Union has requested that the police withdraw the label of a “hate incident” after a student caused minor damage to a copy of the Quran when it fell on the floor at a West Yorkshire school. The school conducted an investigation and confirmed that there was no malicious intent. However, the police have recorded the incident as a “hate incident” and have also been made aware of death threats towards the student. The Free Speech Union criticizes the police for chilling public debate and freedom of expression by attaching this data to the children’s records, despite the absence of any malicious intent. The police encourage the public to report non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) on official hate crime sites, but an updated guidance from the College of Policing now states that NCHIs “should not be recorded where they are trivial or there is no basis of hostility.” Co-founder of Fair Cop Harry Miller said this incident was “backdoor sharia” and a “public humiliation.”