THE creator of Father Ted claims he has been arrested by armed police at Heathrow Airport after posting three gender-critical tweets.
Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan says he was detained as soon as he disembarked a plane coming in from Arizona, and was “arrested at the airport like a terrorist”.
PAGraham Linehan at a Let Women speak rally at Merrion Square in Dublin, 2023[/caption]
He claimed he was then escorted to hospital because the stress caused his blood pressure to skyrocket
AlamyGraham Linehan performs as part of a Comedy Unleashed stand up show outside the Scottish Parliament[/caption]
The 57-year-old says he was arrested over three tweets and “laughed” in shock when he was informed.
He wrote in his blog that he said to officers, some of whom he said were Father Ted fans : “Don’t tell me! You’ve been sent by trans activists.”
One tweet he alleges he was arrested over read: “If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls.”
Another tweet was a picture of a trans demonstration and he wrote above it: “A photo you can smell.”
The third was a follow up which read: “I hate them. Misogynists and homophobes. F*** em.”
He claimed he was escorted to hospital because the stress caused his blood pressure to skyrocket at the airport.
The Father Ted creator wrote on his blog: “The moment I stepped off the plane at Heathrow, five armed police officers were waiting. Not one, not two—five.
“They escorted me to a private area and told me I was under arrest for three tweets.
“I was arrested at an airport like a terrorist, locked in a cell like a criminal, taken to hospital because the stress nearly killed me, and banned from speaking online—all because I made jokes that upset some psychotic crossdressers.
“To me, this proves one thing beyond doubt: the UK has become a country that is hostile to freedom of speech, hostile to women, and far too accommodating to the demands of violent, entitled, abusive men who have turned the police into their personal goon squad.”
Linehan shared a photo seemingly from hospital and screenshots of his tweets.
Piers Morgan called the arrest “absolutely ridiculous”.
He wrote on X: “Five armed cops arresting him at Heathrow for tweets mocking the scandal of biological men invading women’s spaces?
“When it comes to free speech, Britain’s turning into North Korea.”
Tory MP Neil O’Brien said the country is a “total laughing stock” and Labour MP Jonathan Hinder called for a “serious reset to get he priorities right”.
The Met Police told The Sun: “On Monday, 1 September at 13:00hrs officers arrested a man at Heathrow Airport after he arrived on an inbound American Airlines flight.
“The man in his 50s was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence.
“This is in relation to posts on X.
“After being taken to police custody, officers became concerned for his health and he was taken to hospital. His condition is neither life-threatening nor life-changing.
“He has now been bailed pending further investigation.”
The five-time Bafta award winner has previously slammed Harry Potter author JK Rowling for not defending him from backlash over his gender-critical views.
A stand-up comedy Fringe show featuring Linehan was cancelled two years ago after complaints were made to the venue.
Leith Arches axed the Comedy Unleashed event featuring Linehan, a vocal critic of aspects of the trans rights movement.
Linehan is also in a court battle accused of abusing trans activist Sophia Brooks on social media and smashing her phone in October but pleaded not guilty to the hate crime charges.
PALinehan outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court, London, where he has pleaded not guilty to harassing a transgender woman and damaging her phone[/caption]
Graham Linehan claims trans rights activists have taken ‘everything’ from him because of outspoken views
Barry Moran
FATHER Ted co-creator Graham Linehan claims trans rights activists have taken “everything” from him because of his outspoken views.
The comedy writer said he’s been “beaten and bullied for years” as a result of his controversial stance on transgender issues.
He was previously banned from Twitter after he was repeatedly accused of harassment and reported to the police on several occasions.
In an emotional interview in 2022, he told how he’d been “so cancelled” that he’d been offered money to walk away from the Fr Ted musical due to the stigma.
He said: “(The musical) was going great.
“Neil Hannon has written some brilliant songs. We’d rehearsed it twice. Then they’re saying I have to walk away from it and offering me £200,000.
“I was really close to taking it because I could use the money, but they’re saying I can’t even have any creative involvement. I can’t even go to rehearsals. What the **** is going on?
“These people, I thought, were my friends. They were saying they won’t be able to get financiers for it unless I step away.”
But Linehan disagreed and claimed he thinks they were worried about “their under-35s who all seem to believe this s***”.
He also hit out at fellow celebs for not coming to his defence and continued: “I’ve been called a bigot for years and no one stood up for me.
Linehan revealed sudden financial insecurity from his stance on transgender rights caused so much strain that his marriage broke down.
The comedy writer told the Communications and Digital Committee that engaging in “the fashionable American orthodoxy of gender identity ideology” led to the split from his wife after work dried up.
His trial is expected to begin in two days.
The IT Crowd co-creator, who has also written for Brass Eye and The Fast Show, has a long-standing history of criticising the trans-rights movement.
Rowling has also come under fire for comments made in the past towards trans people.
In 2020, the esteemed author slammed the growing trend of replacing “biological sex” with “gender identity”.
Her stance, that declared “sex is real”, led to death threats, but also moulded her into a figurehead for the “gender-critical” movement.
Activists accused her of transphobia in 2020 when replying to an article with the headline: “Opinion: Creating a more equal post Covid-19 world for people who menstruate.”
She tweeted: “‘People who menstruate’. I’m sure there used to be a word for those people.
“Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
Her remarks led to criticism from Potter actors Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, who ignored the fact her books had made them famous to launch a string of attacks.
It was Rowling’s beloved group For Women Scotland which also launched a long-running legal battle with the Scottish government over how a “woman” was defined in Scottish law.
The Scottish government had argued people with gender recognition certificates (GRCs) should be protected from sex-based discrimination, meaning a transwoman would be considered a woman.
However, campaign group For Women Scotland claimed this only applied to people born as a female.
In April, the Supreme Court‘s landmark judgement ruled that it was unanimously determined “sex is binary” and that female-only spaces must be protected on the basis of biology.
Hailing the landmark decision, Tory Leader Kemi Badenoch said: “Saying ‘trans women are women’ was never true in fact, and now isn’t true in law either.
“This is a victory for all of the women who faced personal abuse or lost their jobs for stating the obvious.
“Women are women and men are men: you cannot change your biological sex.”
It comes amid increasing backlash over people being arrested for tweets.
Riot-tweet mum Lucy Connolly was recently freed from jail to rejoin her husband and 12-year-old daughter — after more than a year as a victim of “two-tier justice”.
Husband Ray, a Tory on Northampton Town Council said she had coped “relatively well” with jail, adding: “The only person who hasn’t is our daughter.”
Lucy, 42, caged for stirring up racial hatred after the Southport killings, left HMP Peterborough in a taxi.
Her punishment sparked a major debate, with PM Sir Keir Starmer accused of “two-tier justice”.
Tory councillor Ray added sarcastically: “Well done to Starmer for making it so difficult for a girl of 12. Let’s all give him a pat on the back.”
In all she spent over a year behind bars — two months held on remand before she was sentenced at Birmingham crown court.
She was freed at the automatic release point, after serving 40 per cent of her term in prison.
Her post called for “mass deportation now” and urged followers on X to “set fire” to migrant hotels. It was viewed 310,000 times in the three hours before she deleted it.
Lucy was arrested on August 6 and later pleaded guilty to stirring up racial hatred.
Woke cops need to prevent REAL crime & stop policing tweets, rages Reform MP after journalist probed
By Noa Hoffman, Harry Cole
WOKE cops should spend time chasing real criminals rather than policing tweets, a Reform MP blasted.
Richard Tice slammed officers for launching an investigation into journalist Allison Pearson over a social media post she made a year previously.
Cops turned up at Ms Pearson’s home on Remembrance Sunday to question her about a non-crime hate incident.
On Never Mind the Ballots, Reform’s Deputy Leader raged: “It’s actually so shocking. It’s extraordinary.
“I actually think British citizens would quite like the police to focus on stopping real crime, knife crime, rapes, theft, shoplifting, all that sort of stuff is what the police should be focusing on.
“Not not policing tweets, what’s going on?”
Downing Street backed police in continuing to investigate “Orwellian” non-crime hate incidents.
A spokesman for the PM’s said: “It is important the police can capture data relating to non-crime hate incidents where it is proportionate and necessary to help prevent serious crimes which may later occur.”
The Telegraph commentator said they claimed they were not allowed to tell her what she had said on the X platform.
But she stood accused of “stirring up racial hatred” in a now-deleted post.
Mr Tice insisted some cops are “embarrassed” that they’re being forced to probe social media posts.
He claimed there could be “hundreds” of people getting similar knocks on the door to Ms Pearson but without a platform to complain about it.
The Reform MP added: “I think this government is authoritarian and are quite happy to try and suppress debate.
“Judging by Allison’s comments, there’s a feeling among frontline cops that they’re rather embarrassed they’re being asked to carry out their master’s bidding on stuff they don’t really understand.
“They’re not sure why they’re there. I think it’s weak leadership at multiple levels of of society.”
The incident has enraged opposition politicians, with Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp railing: “The police should not be wasting time targeting journalists or the public for expressing opinions.”
Reform UK’s Nigel Farage added: “This is Orwellian in the extreme. I’m appalled.”
twitter/jkrowlingRowling has also come under fire for comments made in the past towards trans people[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
