The commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police said "we will come after you" — even if you live in another country — if you post material online about the rioting in England that officials define as inciting racial hatred.
"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," Sir Mark Rowley told Sky News.
'Being a keyboard warrior does not make you safe from the law.'
How U.K. law enforcement actually will carry that out — particularly against people who live in the United States, where freedom of speech is paramount — is unclear.
A 17-year-old male was accused of killing three and injuring numerous other victims in a July 29 mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed children's dance class in Southport, a U.K. seaside town.
Officials initially said there was no evidence that terrorism was a motive in the attack, which angered many who accused the government of covering up evidence. Police identified suspect Axel Rudakubana and charged him with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder. Officials identified him as being from Cardiff but also noted that his parents are Rwandan.
Unrest and violence erupted the day after the stabbings and have spread across the United Kingdom ever since.
Radio host Glenn Beck, co-founder of Blaze Media, last week opined that "two-tier justice" — in which police more or less ignore Muslim immigrant crime but come down hard on non-Muslims — has been laid bare in the U.K. in the wake of the deadly knife attack.
U.K. authorities not only began cracking down on rioters but also on individuals who post material online they say incites racial hatred. In fact, U.K. police last week said they arrested a 55-year-old woman in connection with an "inaccurate social media post." Cheshire police officers made the arrest Thursday over a post "containing inaccurate information about the identity of the attacker in the Southport murders," the Cheshire Constabulary said.
Officials said the woman, who lives near Chester, was arrested "on suspicion of publishing written material to stir up racial hatred (S19 of the Public Order Act 1986) and false communications (S179 Online Safety Act 2023)." Chester is about a mile east of England's border with Wales and about 40 minutes south of Liverpool.
'We do have dedicated police officers who are scouring social media. Their job is to look for this material, and then follow up with identification, arrests, and so forth.'
"It’s a stark reminder of the dangers of posting information on social media platforms without checking the accuracy," Chief Superintendent Alison Ross said. "It also acts as a warning that we are all accountable for our actions, whether that be online or in person.”
Ross added that "we have all seen the violent disorder that has taken place across the U.K. over the past week, much of which has been fueled by malicious and inaccurate communications online."
What's more, Fox News noted that Stephen Parkinson — director of public prosecutions of England and Wales — warned against "publishing or distributing material which is insulting or abusive which is intended to or likely to start racial hatred. So, if you retweet that, then you’re republishing that, and then potentially you're committing [incitement to racial hatred]."
He added, "We do have dedicated police officers who are scouring social media. Their job is to look for this material, and then follow up with identification, arrests, and so forth," the cable news network said.
A Sky News reporter asked Rowley what U.K. authorities will do in the wake of notable individuals — such as X CEO Elon Musk — who have been "whipping up this kind of behavior from behind a keyboard who may be in a different country?"
Rowley indicated that oceans and national borders won't save them — or you.
"Being a keyboard warrior does not make you safe from the law," he replied. "You can be guilty of offenses of incitement, of stirring up racial hatred; there are numerous terrorist offenses regarding the publishing of material. All of those offenses are in play if people are provoking hatred and violence on the streets, and we'll come after those individuals just as we will physically confront on the streets the thugs and the yobs ... who are causing the problems for communities."
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Multiple swimmers, including two Americans, have reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 but haven't been required to withdraw.
Unlike previous years, the virus reportedly is being treated similarly to other respiratory viruses, multiple outlets report.
'They are following all the protocols that we have.'
According to outlet SwimSwam, American swimmers David Johnston and Luke Whitlock tested positive for COVID-19, and they were moved to a hotel off Olympic grounds where they will isolate. Coaches reportedly are closely monitoring the whole team since the two swimmers were staying in an Olympic Village apartment with five other teammates.
Johnston has a few days to recover for his Saturday event, the men's 1500-meter freestyle.
Whitlock already competed in his only event, the men's 800-meter freestyle; he placed 15th. He is experiencing only mild symptoms, which allegedly include a cough, an insider stated.
A USA Swimming spokesperson told SwimSwam there is no mandatory masking or testing in place for American swimmers.
"We encourage our athletes to do whatever makes them the most comfortable, working with the team doctors," communications director Jake Grosser said.
British 100-meter swimmer Adam Peaty tested positive Sunday night after winning a silver medal in the 100-meter breaststroke.
"My heart is full," Peaty said after the event on an X post, which includes photos of him and his family.
Yahoo Sports noted that Peaty swam more than two seconds slower than his personal best, speculating that the virus had an impact on his performance.
The outlet also reported a noticeable number of coaches and staff wearing masks around the pool Tuesday morning, apparently due to concern over contracting COVID-19 with the virus seemingly spreading.
Australian athletes appear to have had a more devastating run-in with the virus at the Olympics.
After testing positive, 1500-meter competitor Lani Pallister withdrew from her freestyle heat Tuesday. Nearly a week prior, it was officially announced in an Olympics press release that five members of the Australian women's water polo team also tested positive but were not forced to withdraw.
Australian Olympic team head Anna Meares said, "If those five athletes are feeling well enough to train, they will, and they are following all the protocols that we have." Meares also said the entire team had been tested.
The team representative noted that the athletes have been isolating from other team members, but only when not training, and that they have been wearing masks.
The treatment of COVID-19 in Paris contrasts starkly from previous games, such as the 2022 Beijing Olympics during which staff, athletes, and anyone else in a country's bubble were tested daily.
As CNN reported at the time, fans from outside China were banned, and all athletes were required to be fully vaccinated or placed in quarantine for 21 days upon arrival in the country.
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Ghanaian UFC fighter Abdul Razak Alhassan defended fellow African fighters who have been criticized for moving off the continent to become successful. The fighter compared his desire to be successful to be willing to cut off a limb for the opportunity to go to America.
Alhassan was participating in a press conference prior to a UFC event when he was asked by a reporter how he felt about the debate of who the real "African champion" is.
The journalist was referring to current UFC middleweight champion South African fighter Dricus du Plessis. Du Plessis said in 2023 that he was the "real first African champ" because he was the first champion to be "trained, born, [and] bred in Africa."
This would of course dismiss other UFC champions who were born in Africa, including Kamaru Usman (Nigeria), Israel Adesanya (Nigeria), and Francis Ngannou (Cameroon). Du Plessis felt that because those fighters moved to different countries to live and to train, they weren't staying true to their African roots by staying on the continent.
'If he was a true African, he'd have understood that.'
Alhassan said that while he respects du Plessis and how he has promoted Africa, he is very upset about the way he has spoken about the other fighters.
"I respect the things he's done in MMA, but he’s a f***ing bitch," he said at the UFC Denver media day.
"He's a f***ing a**hole for that word that he used. If he's a f***ing real African and he lived in Africa, he would have never used that f***ing word. He’s a f***ing bitch a** to use that word, because if he was raised with the poor people in Africa, [he would know better]."
Alhassan detailed his struggles with poverty to reporters, saying that he has gone days without eating.
"I have to see my friends eating and I be like 'hey bro, can you give me one teaspoon of your food so I can put [it in] my mouth?' That's how I'll survive for a few days until I can get money," he explained.
The middleweight went on to express extreme gratitude toward countries like the United States and said that if he, like others, got the opportunity to work and train in a better country, he would jump at the chance.
"So if we get the opportunity to leave that s***hole — I'm not trying to call my country a s***hole, but I'm poor — If I can go to America or I can go to a different country to make a better life for myself, I'll f***ing cut off my leg to f***ing go. If he was a true African, he'd have understood that. That means that he was living the comfortable life. His family had money to feed him every day, so he didn't have to worry about leaving to go and make it."
Du Plessis has had several public feuds with fellow African and former champion Adesanya, continuing to claim that he and his training partner are the real Africans.
"We breathe African air. We wake up in Africa every day. We train in Africa, we're African-born, we're African-raised. We still reside in Africa, and we train out of Africa. That's an African champion, and that’s who I'll be."
Alhassan fights on the UFC Denver card on July 13, 2024.
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The Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel left roughly 1,200 civilians dead.
This type of coup was supposed to have been rendered impossible back when our grandfathers were in middle age. Now we know better.
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