❓WHAT HAPPENED: Graham Linehan, co-creator of the comedy series Father Ted, was arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport for posts shared on the X social media platform (formerly Twitter).
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Graham Linehan, an Irish comedy writer and BAFTA winner based in the United Kingdom, and five armed police officers at Heathrow Airport.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The incident occurred at Heathrow Airport upon the left-wing but gender critical comic’s arrival from Arizona on September 1. He was later taken to a hospital due to health concerns.
💬KEY QUOTE: “I was arrested at an airport like a terrorist, locked in a cell like a criminal, taken to hospital because the stress nearly killed me, and banned from speaking online, all because I made jokes that upset some psychotic crossdressers.” – Graham Linehan
🎯IMPACT: Linehan’s arrest has sparked discussions on the ongoing collapse of freedom of speech in Britain, and British law enforcement’s eagerness to intervene in online disputes.
Graham Linehan, the Irish comedy writer behind the hit shows Father Ted, The IT Crowd, and Black Books, was arrested by five armed police officers at London‘s Heathrow Airport over three social media posts. Linehan, a leftist but also a longtime critic of gender ideology, claims he was taken into custody immediately after arriving from Arizona on September 1. The posts in question, which he shared on X (formerly Twitter), have been described by authorities as potentially inciting violence.
One post, dated April 20, read: “If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls.” A separate post from April 19 included a photo of a transgender rights rally with the caption: “A photo you can smell,” followed by another post that stated, “I hate them. Misogynists and homophobes. F*** em.”
Linehan detailed the experience in a blog post, writing, “The moment I stepped off the plane at Heathrow, five armed police officers were waiting. Not one, not two—five. They escorted me to a private area and told me I was under arrest for three tweets.” He says the stress of the incident caused his blood pressure to spike to dangerous levels, leading to a brief hospital stay. Authorities later confirmed he was released on bail while investigations continue.
This is not the first time Linehan has faced repercussions for speaking out against transgenderism. His original Twitter account was permanently suspended in 2020 for what the platform called “hateful conduct,” including remarks like “Men aren’t women tho.” He has been a vocal defender of the rights of real women to single-sex spaces and sports, and has consistently criticized what he calls the erasure of women in favor of radical gender ideology.
Linehan says the United Kingdom has become “hostile to freedom of speech” and accused British law enforcement of going out of its way to appease gender ideologues. “If they think this is going to silence me,” he wrote, “they’ve got another thing coming.”
The Free Speech Union has said it “do[es] not believe Graham’s arrest or the bail conditions imposed”—said to comprise solely of a ban on posting on X—”were lawful.” They added that they would be “backing him all the way in his fight against these preposterous allegations and the disproportionate response from the police.”
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, another noted critic of gender ideology, said of the arrest, “What the f**k has the UK become? This is totalitarianism. Utterly deplorable.”
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