British police interrogate woman under threat of arrest for expressing an opinion about gender on social media

Free speech is under attack in the United Kingdom, critics say, after a woman was reportedly interrogated Friday over a post on X, which stated “trans women are men.”

The story was first reported by Fair Cop, an organization concerned “about police attempts to criminalise people for expressing opinions that don’t contravene any laws.”

“Yesterday, a lesbian woman was interviewed under caution by @northumbriapol for saying Trans Women are men,” Fair Cop wrote. “They interviewed her despite a warning from Fair Cop to leave her alone.”

The watchdog group also shared a transcript of the interview, which reveals an officer told the woman she was being investigated for “Malicious Communication, contrary to Section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act of 1988.”

“You are not under arrest at this time and are free to leave if you wish,” the officer continued. “However, if I deem it necessary to investigate the matter further, I will have to arrest you.”

The officer questioned whether the woman used X, and why, before getting to main issue with questions about the suspected malicious communications:

“So, what I’m going to do now is show you a series of Tweets, exhibited OL1 to 11. So, first under OL1, it says ‘He/The’ in the bio. What did you mean by this?

“I’m going to show you OL2. This says ‘Just your daily reminder that trans women are men.’ What did you mean by this? 

“Do you think this could be seen as offensive? 

“And could cause anyone alarm and distress?” 

After every question, the suspects simply replies, “No comment,” according to the transcript. 

Sunday, popular X account Libs of TikTok shared the story, prompting a reply from X chairman Elon Musk himself, who apparently couldn’t believe what had happened: “This is definitely real?” he asked, to which Libs of TikTok replied in affirmative, citing its source. 

Fair Cop has in fact documented numerous incidents such as this. In its bio, the group says, “We are a group of gender critical lawyers, police officers, writers & professionals dedicated to upholding Articles 8-11 ECHR & removing politics from policing.” 

In a Sept. 4 post, it alleges a British Transport Police Officer answered a question the group posed about whether saying “trans women are not women” on a train should be reported for a “hate crime against a protected characteristic.” Yes was the answer. 

An Aug. 1 post details a case in which police allegedly “dragged” a 16-year-old autistic girl in West Yorkshire from her home for saying one of the officers “looked like her lesbian grandmother.” 

“What happened yesterday in West Yorkshire was not an arrest, but a home invasion by armed thugs intent on executing the kidnapping of an autistic girl,” Fair Cop wrote in a follow up about the incident. “The Chief Constable needs to sack the officers, then resign.” 

Observers in the U.S. worry similar incidents could become more common at home in light of vague “hate speech” policies supported by the progressive left. 

In May, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed a bill into law to create a database of residents’ speech, if considered a hate crime. 

“So, under this bill, if someone gets their feelings hurt, it generates an incident report with the state Department of Human Rights,” summarized state Rep. Walter Hudson in a post about the bill. “To what end? The offered answers vary, and none are specific. They want to ‘know what’s going on.’ They want to ‘combat hate.’ 

“Which led me to ask the bill’s author: what is hate? Her answer was, in essence, whatever a member of any protected class says it is.” 

However, the First Amendment reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” 

“That means we get to make jokes. We get to go to church. We get to protest in favor of our rights. Mackey isn’t the only one,” said Libby Evans, editor-in-chief for The Post Millennial, referring to the case of Douglas Mackey, who was sentenced to seven months in prison for a meme he shared on social media during the 2016 presidential election, jokingly telling Hillary Clinton supporters to “text” their votes. 

“In the UK, in Canada, in Europe, we see people charged with crimes for liking tweets like an MP in Poland, or complaining about immigration like a man in the UK, or saying men aren’t women like in Canada,” Evans continued. “I always thought America was better than that. I thought we were a land of the free, a land where we could speak our minds without fear of government retribution.” 

In the case of the British woman questioned over her gender post, Fair Cop says she was “scared out of her mind, and with no idea what she had done, she agreed to attend the police station.  

“Advised by us, she secretly taped the interview.”