On Friday, September 15th, a number police officers arrived at Townfield Mosque in High Wycombe, England, after they received reports of an altercation. The police were surrounded by Muslims inside the mosque, the police were told that they had to remove their shoes but the police refused.
The Bucks Free Press reported, the police received a report of an altercation between the mosques ruling committee and another group of people. The police arrived at the mosque at 1:40 pm during the time of Friday prayer, they came with 6 police vehicles and entered disregarding the common practice of taking off your shoes once entering a mosque.
The police ignored the customary practice, which further antagonized mosque goers, with both opposing parties turning on the police telling them to remove their shoes. The 2-minute long video, showed the police refusing to remove their shoes, even after being told numerous times not to wear them whilst inside the mosque.
The former chairman of the Wycombe Islamic Mission, Zafar Iqbal, told the Bucks Free Press "There was a lot of shouting but there was no need to call the police. When they arrived there were around 400 to 500 people here for prayers so the whole road had to be closed."
The police did not make any arrests but have stated that they are conducting a further investigation into the incident.