Policy

Two Men Arrested For Tweets After Murder of British Soldier

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Twitter

The murder of a British soldier on the streets of London on Wednesday prompted the depressingly predictable attacks on mosques as well as demonstrations by the nationalist group the English Defence League.

One of the suspected attackers, Michael Adebolajo, told a passerby that the attack was motivated by Britain's foreign policy:

We swear by Almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you. The only reasons we have done this is because Muslims are dying every day. This British soldier is an eye for an eye a tooth for tooth. We apologize that women had to see this today but in our lands our women have to see the same. You people will never be safe. Remove your government. They don't care about you.

Unsurprisingly, some people took to twitter to express their outrage. Two men in their early twenties were arrested for their tweets following the soldier's murder on suspicion of inciting racial or religious hatred. 

From The Independent:

Detective Inspector Ed Yaxley of Avon and Somerset police said: "On Wednesday evening, we were contacted by people concerned about comments made on social media accounts.

"We began inquiries into the comments and at around 3.20am two men, aged 23 and 22, were detained at two addresses in Bristol.

"The men were arrested under the Public Order Act on suspicion of inciting racial or religious hatred. Our inquiries into these comments continue.

"These comments were directed against a section of our community. Comments such as these are completely unacceptable and only cause more harm to our community in Bristol.

The two suspected attackers are being treated in separate hospitals after being shot by police at the scene.