Christian cop in UK suspended for asking questions about Islam during DEI training wins settlement
A former UK police officer, who said he was suspended and forced out of policing after he asked questions about Islam during a DEI workplace training, has reached a confidential settlement with the North Yorkshire Police after he alleged discrimination against his Christian beliefs.
Luke Salmons, a former community support officer, said the force went through a series of DEI training courses in 2023 and 2024 intended to develop a new policy on race, religion and culture. The courses were hosted by external trainers and presented as a safe place where officers could ask challenging questions, according to Salmons.
He said the majority of courses focused on Islam. During one session in September 2024, he says the trainers walked up and down the rows chanting, "Islam is a religion of peace," which gave him pause.
"To me, it kind of stopped being a training course and became more of something like indoctrination really," Salmons told Fox News Digital.
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The next month, during a training held by a Muslim sergeant, Salmons broached questions to the officer about the war in Gaza, where Hamas has committed atrocities and how he understood the concept of jihad, as a peaceful Muslim. He said the exchange remained respectful and the officer invited him to continue the conversation over coffee afterward.
Yet two days later, Salmons said he was suspended over the incident. He said that he was pulled into a private meeting with his inspector, who told him she had learned of his conversation with the Muslim officer and told him that she no longer wanted him on her team, he needed to leave the station and allegedly said, "I don't like your beliefs."
Salmons said he was put under investigation and advised by a union representative to apologize to smooth things over, even though he didn't agree that he had done anything wrong.
"There's a real fear in the police about speaking out, about anything, especially to do with minorities, certainly about Islam. There's certainly a fear within the police within the institutions in the whole in the UK," Salmons explained.
"So I was told to shut up and apologize, so I did that, and then I waited, and this investigation went on and on," he continued.
Salmons ended up resigning after about eight months into the investigation due to the hardship on his family. About a month later, he learned that a North Yorkshire Police disciplinary panel determined his behavior amounted to "gross misconduct" and put him on a list barring him from policing.
Salmons successfully appealed the decision, with the help of the Christian Legal Centre, and the appeal was upheld by Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police, Tim Forber, who found that while there were concerns over behavior, they didn't amount to gross misconduct or a breach of professional standards, according to the BBC.
Salmons was removed from the policing barred list, but he pursued litigation against the force, claiming religious discrimination against his Christian beliefs, citing the inspector's comments at his suspension.
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"She took me in a room, deliberately said to me, 'I don't like your beliefs,' which indicates to me that she was meaning my Christian beliefs, which is discrimination towards me and my faith, which in itself is gross misconduct," he told Fox News Digital.
The force recently reached a settlement with Salmons. While he's pleased to have reached a settlement, Salmons said he has yet to receive an apology or be offered his job back.
"It's a bit disheartening really," he said. "So, obviously, that's why I'm putting my story out there, to encourage other people in the same position."
"Don't quit, don't stop fighting," he advised others. "If you've done nothing wrong, stand up for what is true, stand up for justice, stand up for your faith, if you're a Christian in the workplace."
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The North Yorkshire Police said in a statement to the BBC that it was an "inclusive employer and respects the rights of all individuals to their beliefs" but, "The expression of those beliefs must always be with due consideration of respect and courtesy in line with our force values and behaviors framework."
"As a public service, we should properly understand the communities in which we serve and to make sure that North Yorkshire Police is an inclusive organization where everyone — no matter what their race, religion, sexuality, gender or other belief is – feels like they belong and can contribute to our strength and direction," it continued.
The North Yorkshire Police declined to comment further when reached by Fox News Digital.