A left-wing Christian activist who shouted “who elected him?” at a proclamation ceremony for King Charles III was arrested unlawfully, it has been determined.
Symon Hill, who is currently training to be a Baptist minister, was arrested in September 2022 after he made the comments while passing a proclamation ceremony at Carfax Tower on his way home from church.
The ceremony was one of many proclamation events held in the days after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. King Charles was not in attendance at the time of the incident.
Hill was charged with using threatening or abusive words or disorderly behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress, but the following year the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed that the case against him would be dropped.
Hill has now received compensation of £2,500 after challenging the actions of Thames Valley Police with the help of civil rights organisation Liberty.
Speaking to PA, Hill said, “I was gobsmacked when I was arrested.”
He added, “I worry that rights that have been struggled for for centuries are being threatened by new draconian anti-protest laws, by unaccountable police behaviour, by both Labour and Tory governments really not upholding civil liberties and human dignity.”
Hill, who claims his anti-monarchy views are inspired by his Christian faith and its teaching that all people are equal in the eyes of God, has a long history of faith-infused left-wing activism.
In 2013 he was arrested for his involvement in a protest by Christian pacifists at an arms fair. He has also been a spokesperson for CAAT (Campaign Against Arms Trade).
In 2011 Hill walked from Birmingham to London “as a pilgrimage of repentance for my former homophobia”.
Recounting the lessons of his pilgrimage, Hill wrote, “It was some time before I became aware of the level of hurt that my prejudices had caused, and even longer before I recognised the damage to my own integrity in denying my own sexuality.”
