Police in the UK have criticised themselves after a Dubliner was arrested for “causing anxiety” by retweeting a meme of a swastika made out of Pride flags.
Darren Brady, 51, who was “born and bred” in the capital, slammed Hampshire Police after he was handcuffed at his home in Aldershot on Friday.
The British Army veteran served 30 years including tours of duty in Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia and Northern Ireland.
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Footage shared on social media showed an officer who told Mr Brady he was being apprehended because his post had “caused anxiety” and reported to authorities.
And the force has criticised its own actions as PCC Donna Jones, crime commissioner for Hampshire, blasted the arrest.
She said: “I am concerned about both the proportionality and necessity of the police’s response to this incident.”
And Mr Brady told the Mirror: “The whole event was streamed live on Facebook. I was taken away and spent hours in a police cell.
“I was then release facing no further investigation or charges, but no apology.
“The public backlash against Hampshire Police and the public support I received since the incident has been immense.
“And to put the swastika into context, I posted it in a debates group for discussion and one person was offended.”
In video footage, Mr Brady can be heard asking: “Why am I in cuffs?”
An officer responds: “It didn’t have to come to this at all.”
Mr Brady replied: “Tell us why you escalated it to this level, because I don’t understand.”
The officer adds: “Someone has been caused anxiety based on your social media post. This is why you have been arrested.”
A former police officer, Harry Miller, was also arrested after claiming he had tried to prevent the former serviceman from being detained.
He said: “Hampshire Police showed a blatant disregard of the law. They approached Mr Brady and acted as summary judge, jury and executioner - but didn’t know what offence he’d actually committed.
“They said he was being arrested for causing anxiety, which is utterly ridiculous.”
And Donna Jones, the PCC for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, has issued a statement of her concern at the force’s decision to deploy officers for the complaint while not sending to some burglary crime scenes.
Ms Jones said: “I am aware of the video published on Twitter which shows the arrest of two men in Hampshire yesterday (July 28), one for malicious communications and one for obstruction of a police officer.
“I have taken this issue up with the constabulary today and have been advised officers made the arrests following a complaint from a member of the public of an alleged hate crime.
“It follows a post on social media of Progress Pride flags in the shape of a Swastika.
“I am concerned about both the proportionality and necessity of the police’s response to this incident.
“When incidents on social media receive not one but two visits from police officers, but burglaries and non-domestic break-ins don’t always get a police response, something is wrong.
“As police commissioner, I am committed to ensuring Hampshire Constabulary serves the public as the majority of people would expect. It appears on this occasion this has not happened.
“This incident has highlighted a really topical issue which Hampshire Constabulary and other police forces need to learn from. In order to support this I will be writing to the College of Policing to make them aware of this incident and encourage greater clarification on the guidance in order to ensure that police forces can respond more appropriately in the future.”
Hampshire Constabulary said in a statement: “Officers were making inquiries following a report that an offensive image had been shared online.
“They were investigating an alleged offence under Section 127 of the Communications Act (2003). As such, they attended an address in Aldershot in order to establish the exact circumstances around the social media post.
“Following discussions, officers agreed to return to the address on July 28.
“When officers arrived they were prevented from entering the address to discuss a potential resolution to the matter.
“As a result, officers felt it was necessary to arrest a man at the scene so they could interview him in relation to the alleged offence.
“A 51-year-old man from Aldershot was arrested on suspicion of sending by public communication network an offensive, indecent, obscene, menacing message or matter. He was released under investigation and now has been NFAd (no further action).
“It is important to say that our officers come to work every day to protect the public.
“They were acting in good faith after being deployed to investigate the report of an offensive image being shared online.
“Policing reports in relation to online content is a complex and challenging picture.
“We are engaging further with our police and crime commissioner to make sure that we deploy our resource in a way that reflects need in our local communities.
“A 57-year-old man from Market Rasen, Lincs, was arrested on suspicion of obstructing/resisting a constable in execution of duty.
“He was released under investigation, and our inquiries are ongoing. Due to this being a live investigation we cannot comment further.”
The meme was originally posted by Laurence Fox, a 44-year-old actor turned campaigner, on social media.
Mr Fox and Mr Miller run the Bad Law project which claims to “challenge and depoliticise” policing.
Mr Brady had contacted them and they were present at his home when officers were there.
Mr Fox had previously been embroiled in a war of words over the image, with Twitter temporarily freezing his account for violating their ‘hateful imagery’ policy.
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