GRAHAM Linehan is set to sue the Metropolitan Police after he claimed cops hauled him away “like a terrorist” for “anti-trans” tweets.
The Father Ted creator and comedian revealed he was arrested over online comments when arriving in the UK from the states.
Graham Linehan was arrested over a series of tweets
He claimed he was escorted to hospital after he was arrested because the stress caused his blood pressure to skyrocket
Linehan was nabbed by five armed cops at Heathrow Airport after posting three tweets in which he was accused of “inciting violence”.
One tweet Linehan 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.”
Now, the Father Ted creator has announced he will be taking action against cops after his arrest, which has sparked huge backlash.
Linehan said that he was taking legal action against Scotland Yard in a case being supported by the Free Speech Union.
It comes after the chief of the Metropolitan Police has said his officers should not be “policing toxic culture wars debates”.
Sir Mark Rowley was responding to his force’s arrest of the Father Ted co-creator over anti-trans posts at Heathrow Airport.
He said: “On Monday, officers arrested a man in his 50s at Heathrow in relation to allegations of inciting violence, linked to posts on X.
“The officers involved in the arrest had reasonable grounds to believe an offence had been committed under the Public Order Act.
“While the decision to investigate and ultimately arrest the man was made within existing legislation – which dictates that a threat to punch someone from a protected group could be an offence – I understand the concern caused by such incidents given differing perspectives on the balance between free speech and the risks of inciting violence in the real world.
“Most reasonable people would agree that genuine threats of physical violence against an identified person or group should be acted upon by officers.
“Such actions can and do have serious and violent real-world implications.
“But when it comes to lesser cases, where there is ambiguity in terms of intent and harm, policing has been left between a rock and a hard place by successive governments who have given officers no choice but to record such incidents as crimes when they’re reported.
“Then they are obliged to follow all lines of enquiry and take action as appropriate.
“I don’t believe we should be policing toxic culture wars debates and officers are currently in an impossible position.
“I have offered to provide suggestions to the Home Office on where the law and policy should be clarified.
“Greater clarity and common sense would enable us to limit the resources we dedicate to tackling online statements to those cases creating real threats in the real world.
“If agreed, we could be ready to test new approaches quickly, within a matter of weeks.
“As an immediate way of protecting our officers from the situation we find ourselves in today, we will be putting in place a more stringent triaging process to make sure only the most serious cases are taken forward in future – where there is a clear risk of harm or disorder.
“But officers across the country will have to make similar decisions in future unless the law and guidance is changed or clarified.
“I hope to see this happen without delay so policing’s focus can be squarely on tackling priority issues like street crime and serious violence.”
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