British police mocked for threatening Twitter users over Pride Month tweet
'We’re monitoring our posts. All hate crime will be reported & investigated,' the tweet stated.
The Essex Police in England is facing widespread mockery on social media for tweeting its support for Gay Pride while warning respondents that the tweet will be monitored for hate crime, suggesting that anyone who posts a negative response will be investigated.
“We celebrate diversity by raising the Pride Progress flag for #PrideMonth at our HQ & to honour those who championed for equality before us! #WeValueDifference #PoliceinPride,” the Essex Police wrote on Twitter with a photograph accompanying a Pride flag-raising ceremony.
“We’re monitoring our posts. All hate crime will be reported & investigated,” the tweet stated.
We celebrate diversity by raising the Pride Progress flag for #PrideMonth at our HQ & to honour those who championed for equality before us! #WeValueDifference #PoliceinPride https://t.co/rOXvmf2B7G *We're monitoring our posts. All hate crime will be reported & investigated* pic.twitter.com/iYYwJiheXQ
— Essex Police (@EssexPoliceUK) June 6, 2022
The statement by the Essex Police would suggest it's illegal in the United Kingdom to voice any sort of distaste or disdain for Pride Month, and that refusal to celebrate the LGBTQIA+-centric event is nothing short of a hate crime, at least if voiced publicly.
Despite the warnings posted by the Essex Police, numerous people in the replies condemned the police department for wasting its resources to hunt down people who were simply voicing their opinions and instructed the police force to focus its efforts on solving crimes.
As detailed by Summit News, Essex’s violent crime rate is far from non-existent, and “people in Essex are being stabbed in the streets in broad daylight.”
Numerous feminists flooded the replies section of the tweet to condemn the Essex Police’s priorities.
In the United Kingdom, there is a growing row between old-school feminists and the progressive wave of new, intersectional feminists who prioritize trans issues above that of women.
“Frightening people who might disagree with you into silence, for fear of straying across an undefined line is not a good look for any police force,” wrote a woman in the replies. “Why anyone would volunteer to talk to you when you go around issuing threats is surprising.”
Political commentator Mike Graham wrote: “What if we just laugh at you. Is that a hate crime too?”
What if we just laugh at you. Is that a hate crime too?
— Mike Graham 🇬🇧 (@Iromg) June 6, 2022
As reported by Paul Joseph Watson on Summit News, British citizens are regularly investigated and sometimes charged by police for remarks posted online.
Back in 2015, the head of the National Police Chiefs’ Council said that due to a lack of resources, officers would be unable to attend some burglaries. In 2018, it was revealed that two thirds of burglaries are not even investigated.
In 2017, it was reported that British police had arrested 3,395 people for ‘offensive online comments’ in the space of a year.
In 2019, Harry Miller, a former police officer himself, was interrogated by cops for 30 minutes merely for liking a tweet that was deemed to be offensive to the transgender community.
Last summer, West Midlands Police faced criticism after bragging on Twitter about arresting a 12-year-old boy for sending offensive messages on social media.
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