Comedy writer arrested at London airport for criticizing 'psychotic crossdressers'

Law enforcement in the United Kingdom appears to have difficulty clamping down on imported rape gangs but is quick to make arrests for thought-crimes such as expressing a love for bacon within earshot of a future mosque, unfurling the British flag, singing gospel music in public, praying silently for aborted babies, and, in the case of Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan, criticizing trans activists.

Following his trip to the United States, Linehan, the co-creator of the television program "Father Ted" and creator of "The IT Crowd," was greeted at London's Heathrow Airport by five armed police officers.

'I was arrested at an airport like a terrorist.'

The Metropolitan Police Service confirmed to Blaze News that Linehan was arrested by the MPS Aviation Unit on suspicion of inciting violence.

The comedy writer noted on his Substack that police escorted him to a private area and told him he was "under arrest for three tweets."

Linehan indicated that "in a country where pedophiles escape sentencing, where knife crime is out of control, where women are assaulted and harassed every time they gather to speak, the state had mobilized five armed officers to arrest a comedy writer" for the following tweets:

• an April 19 tweet where he captioned a photograph of a trans-activist protest, "A photo you can smell."
• a follow-up to the smelly protest tweet where he clarified for the benefit of a critic, "I hate them. Misogynists and homophobes. F**k them."
• an April 20 tweet where he wrote, "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."

"When I first saw the cops, I actually laughed. I couldn't help myself. 'Don't tell me! You've been sent by trans activists,'" wrote Linehan. "The officers gave no reaction and this was the theme throughout most of the day. Among the rank-and-file, there was a sort of polite bafflement. Entirely professional and even kind, but most had absolutely no idea what any of this was about."

The comedy writer noted that after taking a nap in a locked cell, he was hauled before an officer, who grilled him about his tweets.

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Photo by Krisztian Elek/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

"Eventually, a nurse came to check on me and found my blood pressure was over 200 — stroke territory," wrote Linehan. "The stress of being arrested for jokes was literally threatening my life! So I was escorted to [accident and emergency], where I write this now after spending about eight hours under observation."

Linehan indicated he was ultimately freed on bail on the conditions that he does not go on X and will show up to another police interview in October.

The writer concluded:

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.

"On Monday, 1 September at 13:00hrs officers arrested a man at Heathrow Airport after he arrived on an inbound American Airlines flight," a police spokeswoman told Blaze News. "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," continued the spokeswoman. "He has now been bailed pending further investigation."

The spokeswoman indicated the officers were armed but did not draw their weapons at any point during the arrest.

This is hardly Linehan's first run-in with Britain's thought police.

The BAFTA-winning comedy writer was charged with harassment and with allegedly breaking a trans-identifying man's phone in April. His trial in that case is reportedly set to begin this month.

Vice President JD Vance noted earlier this year that free speech in the United Kingdom "is in retreat."

"The entire collective West — our transatlantic relationship, our NATO allies, certainly the United States under the Biden administration — got a little too comfortable with censoring rather than engaging with a diverse range of opinions," Vance said during his visit to the U.K. last month. "I just don't want other countries to follow us on what I think was a very dark path under the Biden administration."

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