Man identified by Chelsea FC charged by Met Police after investigation into racist, anti-semitic and hateful tweets
By Matias Grez, CNN
A man who was identified by Chelsea Football Club for tweets posted in late 2020 has been charged by the London Metropolitan Police on seven counts of sending “hateful” messages on social media.
The Met Police said in a statement: “A man has been charged after a Met Police investigation into racist, anti-semitic and hateful tweets posted in late 2020, that were identified by Chelsea FC.
“Nathan Blagg, 21, of Retford, Nottinghamshire, has been charged with seven counts of sending by public communication network an offensive/indecent/obscene/menacing message/matter, contrary to the Malicious Communications Act.”
The Met Police said the charges are across the period of February 5, 2020 to February 3, 2021 and the suspect is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday, October 8.
The statement continued: “The investigation is being led by the Met’s Central Football Unit, who arrested Blagg in February this year.”
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In a tweet at the time of the arrest in February, Chelsea FC wrote: “We welcome today’s arrest which shows that hateful messages shared on social media do have consequences.
“We continue to work closely with the police to support their investigations on this important issue.”
Back in April, the world of English football united in a social media boycott to protest the ongoing racist abuse aimed at footballers online.
In a joint statement, a group of English governing bodies said the boycott hoped to “emphasise that social media companies must do more to eradicate online hate.”
The-CNN-Wire
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