Four people arrested after disorder at soup kitchen handing out free food
Four people have been arrested following disorder at a Black Country soup kitchen where volunteers were handing out free food to the public.
Footage spread online of the incident in Carter’s Green, West Bromwich on September 4, which shows volunteers coming together with people outside.
Of those later detained, one woman aged 20 was arrested for possession of a "bladed article".
Another woman aged 18 was arrested for public disorder, while a 16-year-old boy was arrested for assault and a 40-year-old man was arrested for common assault.
All have since been released on bail as enquiries continue.
The group behind the feed is the Midland Langar Seva Society (MLSS), a group which aims to serve humanity both in the UK and abroad primarily through extending the Sikh concept of Langar (free food kitchen).
A spokesperson for the group said: "We are aware of a video circulating of an incident at one of our feeds in which our service users' and our volunteers' health, safety and well-being was put at risk by a group of members of the public not known to MLSS.
"First and foremost, we would like to confirm our volunteers and service users are safe.
"At MLSS we have always sought to take Guru Nanak Dev Ji's Langar to the streets where it is needed most.
"We always politely ask that anyone around the feed or attending it respects our Sikh principles by covering their head, not smoking, drinking et cetera.
"We have a zero-tolerance policy to abuse towards our service users (some of whom desperately need the meal we provide) and our volunteers who selflessly give up their time to help others.
"As such, we will not tolerate abuse and deliberate interruption of our service.
"We know sometimes the nature of our street feeds mean we operate in challenging environments and we want to thank our experienced team on the ground who dealt with the difficult situation with the utmost professionalism and with regard to the safety of our volunteers and service users."
Police have asked anyone with information on the incident to contact Live Chat at WMPOnline or call 101 quoting log 2743 of 04/09/22.
