UK Man Hurts Anonymous Person’s Feelings, is Put Through ‘13 Weeks of Hell’
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The process is the punishment.
Order Michael Finch’s new book, A Time to Stand: HERE. Prof. Jason Hill calls it “an aesthetic and political tour de force.”
The empire on which the sun once never set, “this scepter’d isle” as Shakespeare dubbed it, “This other Eden, demi-paradise… This precious stone set in the silver sea… This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,” continues its tragic death spiral into dystopian decay.
In the latest case in point: the UK Telegraph reports that IT consultant Jon Richelieu-Booth was arrested by police in Britain after he posted a picture online of himself posing with a shotgun – while vacationing in the United States.
Richelieu-Booth, 50, said he was shocked by the “Orwellian” decision by West Yorkshire Police to prosecute him over his social media post on August 13th, which included a picture of himself on LinkedIn holding a shotgun while on a private homestead with friends during a holiday in Florida. The picture was attached to a lengthy, innocuous post about his day and work activities. There was nothing in the post that could be considered threatening.
And yet, as a West Yorkshire Police spokesman later said in a statement,
Police received a complaint of stalking involving serious alarm or distress, relating partly to social media posts, several of which included pictures of a male posing with a variety of firearms which the complainant took to be a threat.
How some internet rando could possibly have considered the picture to be a personal threat is unclear, but nevertheless, upon Richelieu-Booth’s return home, a police officer paid him a visit to warn him that concerns had been raised about the post.
“I was told to be careful what I say online and I need to understand how it makes people feel,” said a flabbergasted Richelieu-Booth, who offered to provide officers with proof that the picture of the firearm had been taken while he was in the U.S. The officers said that was not necessary – but then two officers returned to his home shortly after 10 p.m. on August 24 to arrest him on the allegation of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. The thought police seized his phone and computers, leaving him unable to work.
Richelieu-Booth was held overnight in a cell before being interviewed, then subsequently released on bail until late October. Police officers then visited his property three more times before he was re-arrested in October, allegedly for breaching his bail conditions – a charge that was later dropped.
The firearms and stalking allegations also were ultimately dropped, but Richelieu-Booth was then charged with a public order offence related to a different social media post “with intent to cause harassment/alarm or distress.” He told the media he is unclear as to which post he was being charged for, but in any case, that charge too was later dropped.
In the wake of this, Richelieu-Booth told reporters, “Anybody should be allowed to say anything they wish, as long as it’s not hateful.” That’s the European perspective; under America’s freer First Amendment, you can actually say something hateful as long as you’re not inciting violence. The UK also lacks a Second Amendment, of course, and one reason Richelieu-Booth was targeted for a harmless social media post may have been to punish him for daring to pose for a photo while enjoying America’s unique freedoms – in particular, the right to bear arms in self-defense against government tyranny.