A UK clergyman was convicted by his own church on Thursday after denouncing a national applause to the late veteran British Army hero Captain Sir Tom Moore as “a cult of white British nationalism”.
Rev. Jarel Robinson-Brown unleashed a storm on Wednesday as prime minister Boris Johnson led the tribute to Moore, the 100-year-old World War II veteran who raised nearly $ 45 million for frontline health workers during the pandemic.
Moore died on Tuesday after being infected with COVID-19.
“Captain Tom’s cult is a cult of white British nationalism,” wrote the black clergyman of the Church of England, according to Sky News.
“I will offer prayers for the rest of your kind and generous soul, but I will not be joining the National Clap.”
Robinson-Brown, who was recently appointed to the oldest church in the city of London, later offered “an unreserved apology for the heartless moment and content of my gonorrhea tweet to Captain Tom,” said Sky.
After a torrent of outrage, he deleted his initial message – and on Thursday he seemed to have deleted your Twitter account.
The London Diocese announced Thursday that “a review is underway, led by the archdeacon of London”.
“Jarel Robinson-Brown’s comments about Captain Sir Tom Moore were unacceptable, insensitive and misjudged,” said the diocese.
“The fact that he immediately removed his tweet and subsequently apologized does not undo the pain he caused, not just to Captain Tom’s family,” added the statement, also condemning the “racist abuse” it generated for Robinson-Brown.