Wayne O’Rourke of Salix Approach, Lincoln, was arrested by Lincolnshire police on charges of stirring up "anti-Muslim" and "anti-establishment" hate online during the recent unrest in Great Britain.
O'Rourke urged people to "Get on the street..." "People of Southport where the f**k are you," he posted to the 90,000 followers on his X account. He also offered advice on how to remain anonymous online.
According to the BBC, "This was accompanied by a post which read: 'Sunderland, go on lads.'"
Another post read: "Starmer has basically said it is against them. Hold the line."
O'Rourke of Salix Approach, Lincoln, admitted publishing written material online to stir up racial hatred between July 28 and August 8.
The court heard O'Rourke had no previous convictions but was cautioned for fraud in 2018.
Lucia Harrington, mitigating, said O'Rourke did not set up his account with the intention of encouraging such material and became ‘caught up in the media frenzy’.
Miss Harrington said O'Rourke had previously worked as a parcel sorter but left work to become the carer for his partner.
She added that O'Rourke now wanted to re-educate himself about things that he had got wrong.
The hairs on the back of my head stood on end reading that O'Rourke wanted to "re-educate himself about things that he got wrong." What is going on in Great Britain? Their great-grandfathers died fighting this evil 85 years ago.
Demonstrating against this is what the British people should be in the streets for.
According to findings during the hearing in the Nottingham court, O’Rourke allegedly used a social account to share content promoting feelings of hatred and division. The allegations are not limited to inciting racial hatred, but also include encouraging an anti-establishment narrative, which has attracted significant attention given its influence on some 90,000 followers.
O’Rourke’s messages reportedly expressed support for the recent riots and provided advice on how to maintain anonymity online, thereby fuelling a climate of social tension. The combination of anti-Muslim and anti-establishment rhetoric has raised alarms among the authorities, who are concerned about the impact such content may have on a large audience already sensitive to these issues.
"The case highlighted the role of social media as platforms where polarising rhetoric can proliferate without proper controls, raising questions about the boundary between freedom of expression and incitement to hatred," Decripto says.
"Proper controls" destroys "freedom of expression." Not recognizing that is the most frightening element in this whole story.
Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight told O'Rourke when sentencing him to three years in prison: "You were not caught up in what others were doing, you were instigating it." Instigating what? Hundreds of thousands of people took part in those protests. O'Rourke has a lousy 90,000 followers. If more than 1 in 100 protesters ever heard of O'Rourke or were affected by his posts, it would be a shock.
"Stirring up racial hatred" is a bogus charge and to sentence a man to three years in prison for it is ridiculous. What proof does the prosecutor have that anyone was "stirred up" by anything specific that O'Rourke posted?
Great Britain is descending into darkness. It's no longer a slippery slope. It's a full-on, head-over-heels, drop-like-a-rock face plant with no way back from the hellish box they've trapped themselves in.
Free speech and free expression are under unprecedented assault worldwide. The thought police are winning, and few people are standing against them.
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