A man found himself the subject of a hate crime investigation, being questioned by authorities like a criminal for liking a tweet that was supposedly transphobic.
Harry Miller, a successful business man and former cop from England, says he was questioned by an officer from the Humberside Police Department for liking a supposedly transphobic limerick, a short humorous poem, on social media. “The limerick referred to trans women as ‘stupid’ and made comments about vaginas and ‘synthetic’ hormones,” reports Metro.
“We are heading absolutely towards some Orwellian state and the police are using 1984 as an operating manual and this frightens the life out of me,” Miller said, according to the BBC.
The Humberside Police Department has not only acknowledged the investigation, but has defended it.
“Cop said he was in possession of 30 Tweets by me. I asked if any contained criminal material. He said…. No. I asked if any came close to being criminal… and he read me a limerick. Honestly. A limerick. A cop read me a limerick over the phone,” Miller explained via Twitter last week. “I said, I didn’t write that. He said, ‘Ah. But you Liked it and promoted it.'”
According to Miller, the officer told him he needed to investigate his “thinking” and lectured the executive on gender ideology, telling Miller that a male can be born with a female brain in the womb, and vice versa.
“This is where it gets incredibly sinister. The cop told me that he needed to speak with me because, even though I’d committed no crime whatsoever, he needed (and I quote) ‘to check my THINKING!’ Seriously. Honestly,” Miller said. “Finally, he lectured me. Said, ‘Sometimes, a woman’s brain grows a man’s body in the womb and that is what transgender is.’ You can imagine my response.”
The officer also told Miller that he was at risk of losing his job if he continued to express such apparently unapproved thoughts.
“Lastly, he told me that I needed to watch my words more carefully or I was as risk of being sacked by the company for hate speech,” wrote Miller. “At which point, I wished him well and said I needed to go and rinse my socks.”
An initial statement released by the Humberside Police Department seemingly defends the investigation into Miller. “We received reports of a number of transphobic comments being posted on social media,” reads the statement. “We take all reports of hate related incidents seriously. We will always investigate to determine if a hate crime or incident has been committed and we will then take proportionate action.”
Addressing the controversy further, the department posted a lengthy statement to Twitter on Monday. Offering a more explicit defense, the department wrote: “This isn’t the case of ‘police controlling people’s thoughts’. The actions taken by the individual and his comments made around transgender cause some distress. We take all reports of hate related incidents seriously and aim to ensure that they do not escalate into anything further.”
Miller responded to the latest statement from the department on Monday.
“Look at this crock of s***,” Miller wrote in a tweet captioning the statement. “They are STILL referring to it as a ‘Hate Incident’, and still bleating their justification. I’m unlocking my account. Retweet this bollocks and please [Humberside Police] – I do not take your warning and will not pipe down.”
“Dear [Humberside Police],” he wrote in a follow-up tweet. “How dare you publicly dox me, claiming that I have mad 30 ‘transphobic’ (sic) tweets? I have engaged in debate around GRA. How the f*** even dare you!”