FASCISM: UK police investigate a man for retweeting a non-criminal limerick

On Wednesday's episode of "Pat Gray Unleashed," Pat Gray and Keith Malinak discussed the story of a United Kingdom man questioned by a "community cohesion" officer after receiving a complaint about the man's activity on Twitter.

A former police officer, Harry Miller, 53, received a phone call from Officer Mansoor Gul on Wednesday after receiving a complaint Miller had allegedly been sharing transphobic content on Twitter.

After more than 30 minutes of questioning, the officer told Miller that, although a crime had not been committed, "We need to check your thinking," the Telegraph reported.

What did the police say?

Scott Young, assistant chief constable issued a statement on Monday, according to Hull Live, that stated:

Following media coverage over the last few days, I want to take this opportunity to provide some clarity around why the police investigate hate incidents.

Hate incidents can cause extreme distress to victims and communities, some of whom are incredibly vulnerable members of our society. A hate incident is recorded as such if the victim perceives the actions taken to be wholly, or partially, motivated by hostility or prejudice.

This relates to any actions, whether spoken or written, around race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and transgender.

We, and all forces, follow College of Policing guidance in relation to handling reports of hate incidents, which can often be a precursor and can escalate to more serious crimes and we, as the police, have a responsibility to prevent crime.

In this case, there were more than 30 tweets reported to us of a transphobic nature, not just a liked or retweeted limerick as some reports have suggested.

This isn't a case of the "police controlling people's thoughts." The actions taken by the individual and his comments made around transgender caused someone distress. We take all reports of hate related incidents seriously and aim to ensure they do not escalate into anything further.

The correct decision was made to record the report as a hate incident (as opposed to a hate crime in which a full investigation would have followed), and to proportionately progress by making contact with the individual concerned to discuss the actions taken on social media.

There is evidence to show hate related incidents are already under reported with people feeling they won't be taken seriously and not having confidence in the police.

I want to offer my reassurance that we will always take reports of this nature seriously, and as with this case, take proportionate action.

What else?

Miller took to Twitter, where he described the experience and expressed how the officer made him feel like a criminal crime even though a crime had not been committed.

4. I said, I didn't write that. He said, 'Ah. But you Liked it and promoted it.'
I asked why he was wasting his time on a non crime. He said, 'It's not a crime, but it will be recorded as a hate incident.'
— Harry The Owl - Limerick Criminal (@HarryTheOwl) January 23, 2019

7. This is where it gets incredibly sinister. The cop told me that he needed to speak with me because, even though I'd committed no crime whatsoever, he needed (and I quote) 'to check my THINKING!' Seriously. Honestly.
— Harry The Owl - Limerick Criminal (@HarryTheOwl) January 23, 2019

Watch the video below for details.

Pat asserted that the man should have refused to answer the officer's questions and hung up the phone. After all, no crime had been committed, so the officer did not have a legitimate reason for contacting Miller.

One last thing

According to CitizensAdvice.org, hate incidents are defined as when a person says something that makes the "victim" or anyone else think it was motivated by hostility or prejudice based on one of the following things:

• disability
• race
• religion
• transgender identity
• sexual orientation.

Anyone can be a victim of a hate incident, according to CitizensAdvice.org, and if a citizen feels they have been victimized they should report all hate incidents to the police.

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