Influencer Andrew Tate held on rape and organised
crime charges in Romania
Former kickboxer and reality TV star arrested
alongside his brother and two other suspects
Shaun
Walker, Kari Paul and Dan Milmo
Fri 30 Dec
2022 12.52 GMT
The
controversial online influencer and misogynist Andrew Tate has been detained in
Romania on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming an organised crime
group, authorities have confirmed.
The former
kickboxer and reality TV star, who has been banned from a number of social
media platforms for misogynistic comments and hate speech, was arrested
alongside his brother and two other suspects.
They spent
Thursday night in custody and could be held for up to 24 hours, prosecutors
from Romania’s anti-organised crime unit said in a statement.
Authorities
said they had searched five homes as part of the investigation, and released
footage of one of the raids, showing riot police entering a luxurious
residence. Footage of items seized at the location showed stacks of euro notes
and a handgun.
In a
statement, authorities said two British citizens and two Romanians were accused
of forming a gang that recruited victims by “misrepresenting their intention to
enter into a marriage/cohabitation relationship and the existence of genuine
feelings of love”. Later, the victims were forced to perform pornography
“through physical violence and mental coercion”.
Authorities
said so far six victims had been identified. The statement also mentioned a
separate allegation of rape dating to March this year, although it did not
specify against which suspect the allegation was levelled.
The Tate
brothers have been under criminal investigation in Romania since April, when
police raided their mansion in Bucharest after the US embassy received a
tip-off claiming that a 21-year-old American woman was being held there against
her will. The Tate brothers were questioned and later released, but the
investigation was expanded to cover rape and human trafficking allegations.
On Friday,
Tate posted an apparent reference to his arrest on his recently reinstated
Twitter account, writing: “The Matrix sent their agents,” using a term taken
from the eponymous blockbuster – whose “red pill” trope has proven popular
among misogynistic online groups - for a simulated world that controls humans.
Prior to
the tweet, a spokesperson for Tate told the Daily Mirror he could not provide
any details regarding the most recent reports. “However, Andrew and Tristan
Tate have the utmost respect for the Romanian authorities and will always
assist and help in any way they can.”
Tate, whose
popularity has increased enormously over the past year, has been kicked off
numerous social media platforms for posting hate speech and misogyny. Domestic
abuse charities have characterised Tate’s views as extreme misogyny, with the
potential of radicalising men to commit violence against women. In numerous
videos, Tate gives graphic descriptions of violence against women.
He was
banned from Twitter in 2017, after stating that victims of sexual violence
should bear some responsibility for the acts. His account was reinstated in
November after Elon Musk’s takeover of the company and now has 3.5 million followers.
Over the
past week, he has been engaged in a Twitter standoff with the climate activist
Greta Thunberg, attempting to troll her by telling her about his large
collection of emission-heavy cars. Thunberg responded by implying Tate had
“small-dick energy”.
This
prompted Tate to release a two-minute video during which he asked somebody out
of shot to bring him pizza and to make sure the boxes were “not recycled”.
Following
online speculation that the brand of pizza featured in the video helped police
confirm Tate’s presence in Romania, Thunberg quipped on Twitter that “this is
what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes”.
However,
the anti organised-crime unit representative said that it was not the case that
Tate’s arrest had been made as a result of the pizza boxes.
Tate has
used his Twitter account to advertise a platform that he claims will help
people escape “the Matrix”. Tate claimed in his video response to Thunberg that
the “global matrix” was behind Thunberg’s comments going viral. Membership of
Tate’s platform, which says it will train people to “build a large income at
speed” via skills such as cryptocurrency investing, costs $49.99 (£41.50) a
month.
The Center
for Countering Digital Hate, a campaign group, said Tate was using his
“attention-seeking, algorithm-gaming content … to promote his latest
money-making scheme”.
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