A POLICE force has found itself at the centre of a free speech row after it threatened to investigate an elderly cancer patient over social media posts.
Trump-supporting pensioner Deborah Anderson was confronted by cops at her home in Slough, Berkshire, earlier this year.
Thames Valley Police has come under fire after one of its officers was sent to question a pensioner over Facebook comments
The FSU slammed the cops for “harassing” cancer sufferer Deborah while she was recovering from chemotherapy
Officers accused the American of writing a “threatening” Facebook comments and she was told to apologise for “upsetting” someone.
But Ms Anderson, who refused to say sorry, was warned she faced being taken to the police station for a formal interview.
Now, following an intervention from the Free Speech Union (FSU), it has been confirmed the case against her has been dropped.
Politicians, including Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, are among those who have publicly criticised Thames Valley Police for the incident.
It is the latest example of police intervening in online posts, following the controversial arrest of Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan.
The comedy writer, 57, was shockingly swooped on by armed cops at Heathrow Airport after posting three tweets.
In the two-minute clip, an officer enters her living room and informs her of the allegations.
Speaking directly to Ms Anderson, he says: “If you were admitting that it was you who wrote the comment, you could just make an apology to the person.
“The alternative would be that I have to call you in for an interview.”
But she quickly fires back at the officer and questions why he is not investigating “rapes” or “murders” in the area.
She responds: “I’m not apologising to anybody, I can tell you that.
“Are there no houses that have been burgled recently? No rapes, no murders… why aren’t you out there investigating those?
“I haven’t broken any laws so you’re going to be wasting your time when you can be instead doing things that are more important.
“I’m a cancer patient. You can see that because I’m bald… I’m a woman living on my own, who has never broken a law in her life.”
During the video, the officer does not specify which comment Ms Anderson made was threatening.
The FSU later slammed the cops for “harassing” cancer sufferer Deborah while she was recovering from chemotherapy.
It said: ‘What was Deborah’s supposed crime? The policeman didn’t tell her.
“Was it her passionate support of President Trump and the MAGA movement on her Facebook and X pages?
“To make it worse, Deborah is in the midst of cancer treatment, including chemotherapy.
“She ought to be have been convalescing. Instead, she was harassed for her tweets.
“Thames Valley Police are responsible for guarding President Trump this week.
“What would he make of the fact that those same officers are visiting the homes of his supporters and threatening them with arrest?”
Thames Valley Police confirmed today no further action was taken and admitted people were “entitled to express their views”.
The force told the Daily Mail: “In June, we received a report from a person who felt threatened by comments directed at them online.
“Following engagement with both parties, no arrests were made and no further action was taken.
“While people are entitled to express their views, it is the police’s duty to respond to allegations of threatening language and references to violence.”
After his detainment, Linehan doubled down on his “anti-trans” social media posts and said he had “no regrets”.
Linehan was accused of “inciting violence” and detained as soon as he disembarked a plane from his current hometown of Arizona, US.
He has vowed to sue the Metropolitan Police after he claimed he was “treated like a terrorist” during his arrest.
The IT Crowd co-creator said he was escorted to hospital because the stress caused his blood pressure to skyrocket at the airport.
The comedian’s arrest sparked fierce backlash and concern on social media from high-profile figures as well as the general public.
Linehan has now fiercely defended his tweets, telling the BBC: “I don’t regret anything I’ve tweeted.
“Sometimes I’ve tweeted a bit more out of anger, because of the frustration that no-one’s paying attention to this issue.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was among those who criticised Linehan’s arrest.
He said: “The Graham Linehan case is yet another example of the war on freedom in the UK.
“Free speech is under assault and I am urging the USA to be vigilant.”
JK Rowling wrote on X: “What the f*** has the UK become? This is totalitarianism. Utterly deplorable.”
Meanwhile, Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick described the incident as “ridiculous and a complete waste of police time”.
Downing Street declined to comment on Linehan’s arrest, saying it was “an operational matter for the police”.
Graham Linehan was controversially swooped on by armed cops at Heathrow Airport after posting three tweets Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
