“IT consultant arrested after posing with gun on LinkedIn,” The Telegraph reported Friday (link requires email address for access). “Jon Richelieu-Booth says he was ‘put through 13 weeks of hell’ after returning from US holiday.”
The photo was taken on a friend’s property in Florida, Richelieu-Booth relates, and he told visiting West Yorkshire Police investigating its posting that he could provide them proof. They declined, but did offer a bit of advice:
“I was told to be careful what I say online and I need to understand how it makes people feel.”
Officers returned to his home and arrested him for “possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and a further allegation of stalking related to a photograph of a house that appeared on his social media.” He bailed out but was rearrested later and charged with violating bail conditions.
Ultimately, the bail charges were dropped, as were the firearm and “stalking” charges, “but … was charged with a public order offence relating to a different social media post… of displaying ‘any writing/sign/visible representation with intent to cause harassment/alarm or distress.’”
That charge was also dropped. But more lasting damage appears to be to Richelieu-Booth’s employment prospects. As per the story, his phone and computers have been seized.
It seems there’s more to that story, but what that is has not been revealed. In any case, all the charges West Yorkshire Police have thrown at the guy have not held up and it’s tough to see how any of what was alleged could be considered a crime in the first place, at least to anyone who values freedom more than control of the hive mind.
What is clear is someone with motives of their own, knowing full well that their complaining to police could result in this man’s loss of freedom (or worse) took advantage of the disarmed snitch culture encouraged by authorities in order to destroy his life. And Richelieu-Booth’s takeaway ultimately reveals a subject mentality that the system counts on:
“Anybody should be allowed to say anything they wish, as long as it’s not hateful.”
Really? And who’s the arbiter of that, because the way the UK government has been censoring speech and enforcing their “standards” against freedom of speech, on social media and in public policy debates is beyond Orwellian, particularly as it relates to LGBTQ issues, the spread of Islam, and importation of “migrants” throughout “this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.”
Per the West Yorkshire Police:
It is an offence to use threatening behaviour or words which are intended to stir up religious hatred or hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation. The law covers the spoken word and written material, including plays, recordings, visual images or audio sounds.
They don’t just mean to enforce it against hapless subjects:
“London’s Metropolitan Police chief warned that officials will not only be cracking down on British citizens for commentary on the riots in the UK, but on American citizens as well.”
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley issued the following global threat:
“We will throw the full force of the law at people. And whether you’re in this country committing crimes on the streets or committing crimes from further afield online, we will come after you.”
And if they catch you, forget the Sixth Amendment guaranteed right to a trial by jury, not that one comprised of subjects judging the actions of a citizen would be much help. Per BBC:
“Justice Secretary David Lammy is proposing to massively restrict the ancient right to a jury trial by only guaranteeing it for defendants facing rape, murder, manslaughter or other cases passing a public interest test. An internal government briefing, produced by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for all other Whitehall departments, confirms plans to create a new tier of jury-less courts in England and Wales.”
The government propaganda organ didn’t see fit to mention that Lammy’s parents came to the UK from Guyana, or to question whose interests could be most served if jury trials were denied to those prosecuted for challenging engineered demographic change.
None of that seems to bother English broadcaster and all-around media wanker Piers Morgan, who, when advised by Tucker Carlson that the ancestral population in England was on its way to becoming a minority, with all the cultural implications and restrictions that imposing Third World ways makes inevitable, replied, “So what?”
Morgan, like the government he shills for, is a useful idiot on both speech and guns.
“Just as the 2nd Amendment shouldn’t protect assault rifle devotees, so the 1st Amendment shouldn’t protect vile bigots,” Morgan tweeted, after Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson explained his faith-based objections to the LGBTQ phenomena in a GQ interview.
And it’s not just “assault weapons” Morgan calls for banning in America, but handguns, too, just like they’ve done in the UK. Not that the authorities who impose that have a duty to protect, or even to respond.
Back in 2007, I wrote a column for GUNS Magazine starting with the quote, “A TERRIFIED 80-year-old had to wait 24 HOURS for cops after a hammer fiend smashed her windows and threatened to kill her.”
Thames Valley Police claimed “officers were on MORE IMPORTANT calls” [emphasis in original reporting by The Sun]. Not only did a check of news story reveal no other emergencies, when pressed for information on their useless response, their the Orwellian-titled “Freedom of Information Officer” replied “Your request for information has now been considered and I am not obliged to supply the information you have requested.”
Back in 2015, I wrote another column for The Truth About Guns, recalling an effort by Americans in World War II to collect and send guns to the UK so citizens could defend their homeland against Nazi invasion.
“Would You Send a Gun to Defend a British Home?” the article asked.
Knowing what we know today, would you?
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
