A planned “Draw Mohammed” exhibition has been cancelled in London after counter-terrorism police warned that people could be killed if it went ahead.
Organiser Anne Marie Waters, Sharia Watch director and former UKIP candidate, revealed that security services had reason to believe the event might be attacked, with a “very real possibility that people could be hurt or killed – before, during and after”.
Organisers asked more than 200 galleries to host the exhibition but their requests were almost universally refused, with even the gallery that eventually agreed later pulling out.
Waters says police did not force her to shelve the exhibition, but it was clear that Britain had become a “frightened nation” afraid of exhibiting controversial Mohamed cartoons.
Police are refusing to “discuss intelligence” but issued the following statement to The Huffington Post:
“Officers from the Metropolitan Police Service were approached by and spoke to the organiser of an event which was to take place in London in September. Based on that discussion, the organisation made the decision not to hold the event.”
Anne Marie Waters recently pulled out of a debate organised by the Islamic Education and Research Academy (iERA) on Islam and British values after she turned up to the event but was advised by her entourage not to contribute.
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On Thursday, she also failed to turn up to debate Raza Nadim of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPAC) on Russia Today about the “Draw Mohammed” exhibition and free speech.
Earlier this month, the founder of Britain First, Jim Dowson, accused Waters and the organisers of the offensive exhibition of wanting to ignite a race war in the UK.
