Jailed for a meme

On Thursday night, I was arrested and detained in solitary confinement for the crime of posting a meme (pictured above). The meme is a political opinion. Stripped of explicit language it says: “I don’t like Hamas, I do not support the Palestinian cause, and I do not like Islam - and I think people who support these causes should move to a Muslim country (which would be more sympathetic to these causes)”.

Voicing this opinion is not an arrestable offence that I know of. As such, we can deduce that the offending part of the meme is the explicit language. I was arrested for posting naughty words online.

The police interview I was subjected to asked if I knew who Tommy Robinson was and whether I was aware that he was the first person to post the offending meme. I do not recall the exact phrasing of the answer I gave, but I recall saying that they couldn’t possibly know that, and it is not an established fact because that’s not how memes work. It has now been established that the meme was authored by @BlairIsInTheAir in November 2023 in the wake of pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

We can reasonably deduce this meme is and was intended as a very specific message to the pro-Palestine hate-marchers who have converged on synagogues (with menaces), hounded MPs, destroyed public property, attacked RAF bases, chanted genocidal slogans and waved the flags of jihadists. Fuck Hamas is a legitimate sentiment.

“Fuck Palestine” may be contentious as a sentiment, but a legitimate sentiment all the same. As is fuck Islam because it’s my right to say fuck any religion - especially those who attempt to impose their religious order on my country. The hate-marchers do indeed need to fuck off to a Muslim country to protest - if only to see how far they’d get. Some Arab states do not tolerate open support for Jihadist groups and no functioning country should. But mostly, they should indeed fuck off to a Muslim country because they’re not shy about voicing their hatred and contempt for my country.

When there are some 40,000 of them on the terror watchlist - and they parade around london with loudhailers shouting “Fuck the Jews, rape their daughters” (something Hamas actually did), I am of the view that: these people simply should not be here, it is not racist to say so, and I don’t particularly give a fuck if it is. My intention is not to incite racial hatred. It is simply to express my opinion, and you are welcome to disagree with it - being that we are notionally a liberal democracy founded on enlightenment values. As such, I endorse every sentiment in this meme.

North Yorkshire Police, though, were attempting establish a link between myself and Tommy Robinson’s activities - while also fishing for evidence that I had intended to stir up racial hatred (the alleged public order offence).

This is baseless on both counts. Any connection with, or sympathies for, Tommy Robinson is neither here nor there. It was reported in August of this year that Tommy Robinson had been questioned by the police for posting the same meme, and I subsequently posted it in solidarity because I believe nobody should face police questioning for posting a meme.

Several people posted the same meme. David Atherton, an ally of Tommy Robinson, was also questioned over the meme without charge. The meme was viral before I ever posted it. There is no racial element to it. The arrest is bogus, as are the claims of North Yorkshire Police.

I’m afraid I will be banging on about this arrest debacle for a little while because there are a lot of avenues to explore (and for my own therapy, I need to talk about this). It’s become clear to me that the process is the punishment. Whether you’re guilty or innocent you are subjected to the same ordeal.

In my case, I was snatched from my home in the night, bundled into a cage in a snatch wagon, held in solitary confinement for hours, coerced into waiving my right to a solicitor, then told I will have to wait until late December for a decision on whether charges will be pressed.

The initial trauma of being detained is horrifying in itself, but I now have to live with this hanging over my head three months. That’s the psychological weight they press on you.

They could have arranged for me to voluntarily attend a police station to be interviewed under caution, and made a rapid decision on the basis of that, but instead they chose to terrorise me and put me through months of uncertainty.

I’m not one for bandying around terms like “PTSD”, because it diminishes the trauma of people who really suffer with it, but I can certainly understand PTSD a whole lot better. Modern detention cells are far worse than the old Victorian police estate that was in operation into the nineties. They are cold, sterile and inhuman. It is a wholly alien, sterile, fluorescent-lit environment that assaults the senses. You’re held in solitary with no idea when you’ll be released. They don’t keep you informed and minutes feel like hours.

As such, even though I’ve finally had a good night’s sleep, it doesn’t stop my brain replaying events, and I feel the same rush of dread. It’s going to take me a few days to feel normal again. Already it’s affected the way I live. I just had a knock on the door from the postman, and I was shaking with fear. These shitbirds could come back at any time with an equally spurious accusation. I now can’t answer the door without looking through the spyhole and having my phone camera ready. This is going to stay with me for a long time.

It’s also robbed me of an amazing experience. We had tickets for WASP and Armoured Saint last night (I’m a huge John Bush fan), but I wasn’t able to drive with the state I was in. I’d only managed to nap for two hours. More than that, I now have to navigate the legal maze because this is not just a case of evading a charge. I want real justice for myself, and my family, but more than that, this evil practice has to stop. Just this morning I’ve seen a video of an old lady being bundled into a snatch wagon cage for the crime of holding up a placard. Something to do with abortion, as I understand it. One day soon, they’ll end up killing someone. This cannot stand and I will stop them.

If you’re familiar with my work, you’ll know I spend a lot of my time dissecting the deficiencies of the right, and I’m not shy about my criticisms. That usually means I am kept at arm’s length because nobody is ever sure where my guns will point next. That’s the price of being independent.

As such, I fully expected to have zero support over this latest debacle, but everybody, including those I’ve crossed swords with, has come out to bat for me this week, and it’s been an absolutely humbling experience. The explosion of outrage has restored my faith. Moreover, I feel supported like never before, and I’m pretty confident North Yorkshire Police have started a battle they will lose. Not only did the footage go viral, so did the offending meme. It’s the Streisand Effect in its full glory.

Whether my the meme I posted is unlawful or not (it isn’t), that the police are sending out snatch squads in the middle of the night to throw people into solitary confinement, and effectively denied their rights, is a dark turn in British policing. That they will do it on the basis of a single complaint gives the left a powerful tool of suppression. It’s much like the mob reporting tactics they employed to have Twitter accounts suspended, only this takes it to the next level. The left don’t just want you silenced. They want you dead. Jailed is the next best thing.

The intent of these police terror tactics is not just to silence me. Securing a conviction is secondary. The goal is to inflict trauma upon those who dare to contradict the narrative as an example to others, in the hope that everyone else will self-censor. As such, the greatest support you can show is to post the offending meme itself and keep being the magnificent bastards that you are.

My hope is that this will be a wake-up call for the authorities. This has been an international humiliation for North Yorkshire police and any further action would simply be a vindictive attempt at face-saving. I doubt they are that stupid but they do have a knack for reaching new lows. As such, I do not underestimate them. Corporate vindictiveness often has no restraints. What I can say, is that I will now be devoting my entire runtime to putting a stop to this.

On a final note, I would just like to reiterate how grateful I am for all of your kind words of support which has made this nightmare bearable. I’m especially thankful to my other half who has been an absolute rock with unwavering support, and to my dad and sister - who were there for me straight away without question - as they always are. I’m still not quite on an even keel yet, so I’m going to relax over the weekend, but when I get myself correct, I will be on the warpath.