JK Rowling and Elon Musk have branded the UK a “police state” after comedian Graham Linehan was arrested at Heathrow Airport, where armed officers detained him over social media posts now under investigation.
Rowling posted on X, “What has the UK become? This is totalitarianism . Utterly deplorable.” Musk reposted her message, adding: “Police state.”
A police state is typically defined as a system where authority is concentrated in the hands of a government, party, or military and enforced through heavy-handed policing and restrictions on free expression.
Why was Linehan arrested?Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan said five armed officers were waiting for him as he stepped off an American Airlines flight from Arizona on Monday. He was taken to a private area, informed he was under arrest, and later placed in a cell.
“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,” he said, as quoted by The Herald. Despite describing the arrest as “a farce,” Linehan said the officers were “decent” and even fans of his comedy.
Linehan claims he was admitted to hospital due to high blood pressure brought on by the stress of the incident.
Recounting the arrest on his Substack, he wrote, “The moment I stepped off the plane at Heathrow, five armed police officers were waiting. Not one, not two – five. They escorted me to a private area and told me I was under arrest for three tweets.”
“In a country where paedophiles escape sentencing, where knife crime is out of control, where women are assaulted and harassed every time they gather to speak, the state had mobilised five armed officers to arrest a comedy writer for this tweet. I promise you, I am not making this up.”
The posts under investigationOne of the tweets being investigated, posted on April 20, 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 post featured a photo of a trans-rights demonstration with the caption: “A photo you can smell.”
A third read, “I hate them. Misogynists and homophobes.”
Rowling’s public support comes just weeks after Linehan criticised her for staying silent when his career came under attack. He said her “silence” had left him feeling isolated and contributed to the perception that he was “toxic,” despite his previous support for her online.
Rowling posted on X, “What has the UK become? This is totalitarianism . Utterly deplorable.” Musk reposted her message, adding: “Police state.”
A police state is typically defined as a system where authority is concentrated in the hands of a government, party, or military and enforced through heavy-handed policing and restrictions on free expression.
Why was Linehan arrested?Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan said five armed officers were waiting for him as he stepped off an American Airlines flight from Arizona on Monday. He was taken to a private area, informed he was under arrest, and later placed in a cell.
“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,” he said, as quoted by The Herald. Despite describing the arrest as “a farce,” Linehan said the officers were “decent” and even fans of his comedy.
Linehan claims he was admitted to hospital due to high blood pressure brought on by the stress of the incident.
Recounting the arrest on his Substack, he wrote, “The moment I stepped off the plane at Heathrow, five armed police officers were waiting. Not one, not two – five. They escorted me to a private area and told me I was under arrest for three tweets.”
“In a country where paedophiles escape sentencing, where knife crime is out of control, where women are assaulted and harassed every time they gather to speak, the state had mobilised five armed officers to arrest a comedy writer for this tweet. I promise you, I am not making this up.”
The posts under investigationOne of the tweets being investigated, posted on April 20, 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 post featured a photo of a trans-rights demonstration with the caption: “A photo you can smell.”
A third read, “I hate them. Misogynists and homophobes.”
Rowling’s public support comes just weeks after Linehan criticised her for staying silent when his career came under attack. He said her “silence” had left him feeling isolated and contributed to the perception that he was “toxic,” despite his previous support for her online.
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