UK police quickly arrest “racist” 12-year-old — after neglecting grooming gangs for years
West Midlands Police are patting themselves on the back after arresting a 12-year-old boy for racist messages he directed at Footballer Wilifred Zaha.
Zaha, who is of African descent and plays for the Crystal Palace Football Club, was sent despicable racist messages from an account on the eve of his team’s big game against Aston Villa. The messages, from an Aston Villa supporter, targeted Zaha’s race and national heritage.
Just mere hours after reporting the messages to the authorities, West Midlands Police announced they made an arrest – a 12-year-old from Soilhull, Burmingham.
#ARRESTED| We were alerted to a series of racist messages sent to a footballer today and after looking into them and conducting checks, we have arrested a boy.
— West Midlands Police - #StayAlert (@WMPolice) July 12, 2020
The 12-year-old from #Solihull has been taken to custody.
Thanks to everyone who raised it. Racism won't be tolerated. pic.twitter.com/oFxBUvdtV1
But the rapid arrest and nature of the charges left a sour taste in many social media user’s mouths.
Suffolk-based family lawyer Sarah Phillimore replied to West Midlands Police, “Is this really the best way we can deal with racism in 2020? He is 12 years old.”
Is this really the best way we can think of to deal with racism in 2020? He is 12 years old.
— Sarah Phillimore (@SVPhillimore) July 12, 2020
Another user reported that she had called West Midlands to report a drug deal taking place outside of her home and was told that they were “busy.” She reported that the students taking part in the drug deal would later drive under the influence and have an accident resulting in a death.
I rang the police to report drug dealing taking place outside my house by students living 3 doors down, they said “we’re busy, try the council”.
— Han 💋 (@WeirdLittleHen) July 12, 2020
Last week those same students had a house party, 1 was so off his head, he crashed his car, drove off and killed a man in Hyson green pic.twitter.com/9CuxYcZ89O
The West Midlands Police have been at the center of controversy over lack of action towards serious crime in the past.
In 2015, it was reported that the West Midlands Police withheld investigating claims of a pedophilic grooming gang taking place within their jurisdiction in order to not “inflame racial tensions” ahead of the 2010 General Election.
Three years later, in 2018, a number of young Sikh girls in West Midlands came forward with deplorable stories of being targeted by pedophilic grooming gangs. A Sikh community organization produced a shocking report accusing police of suppressing and neglecting the girls’ cries for help, leading the Sikh community in the area to “turn vigilante” in order to protect their youth in the absence of police assistance.
Just this year in January, West Midlands Chief Constable David Thompson defended himself against accusations that he was responsible for shutting down a massive investigation into pedophilic grooming gangs when he was then-District Commander of Manchester Police.
He claimed he “didn’t remember” his role in shuttering Operation Augusta – a major police-wide effort to take down grooming gangs and protect underaged girls.
Don't Get Censored
Big Tech is censoring us. Sign up so we can always stay in touch.
Don't Get Censored
Big Tech is censoring us. Sign up so we can always stay in touch.