UK police arrest teen for posting photo of local politician edited to look like a rabbit

A strange story has come out of the United Kingdom after police arrested a 15-year-old boy for posting a picture of a local city councillor with rabbit ears, as well as comparing him to a "rent boy."The young teen, who is only identified by his first name, Fraser, is a supporter and campaigner for Reform UK, a right-wing party headed by Nigel Farage, and has made a name for himself by taking online potshots at councillors of opposing parties in his city of Wolverhampton.One of these politicians that Fraser has taken to making fun of is Conservative Party councillor Simon Bennett, whom Fraser had repeatedly taunted online.In one post Fraser had edited an image on Bennett to make him appear to look like a rabbit, with the caption "Nibble... nibble... crunch... crunch... Can you hear it? That's the sound of a rabbit devouring the last remaining shreds of Wolverhampton Conservatives' credibility. By the time it's finished, there won't be a morsel left. What a crying shame.".When Bennett was pictured wearing less than professional attire to a council meeting, Fraser had written, "Why do some councillors rock up at a scrutiny committee in shorts and t-shirt in trainers? So unprofessional."Afterwards, Bennett was seen at a council meeting wearing what Fraser decided were more appropriate clothes; he noted that it was good that he had decided to come dressed professionally, not dressed "like a rent boy."It is this comment in particular that seems to have caused Bennett so much anger that he decided to file a hate speech complaint to the local police.The term "rent boy" is a British slang term used to describe a male prostitute, meaning Fraser's comments could be seen, under UK language laws, as a form of hate speech due to perceived homophobia.Due to this complaint, police went to Fraser's house on the morning of August 3 to question him about his online behaviour; he was apparently asleep when the officers entered his room."I just remember waking up in my room with these four people around me. They were all in uniform," said Fraser recounting the incident to British newspaper The Telegraph."I wasn’t scared, but I didn’t know what I was being arrested for," Fraser claimed..He was then taken out of his home and was searched by police officers in full view of his neighbours before he was put in the backseat of a police car and taken to the local jail, where he was fingerprinted and had his mugshot taken.Back at his house police searched his room and confiscated his laptop as well as his phone. "I was by then quite angry that they had arrested me for something on social media. You have people robbing shops and nothing gets done. If I had been shoplifting, the police wouldn’t have bothered,” said Fraser about how he was feeling as he sat in the jail cell.After being released on bail later in the afternoon, Fraser, alongside the Free Speech Union, say that they are considering suing the West Midlands Police for wrongful arrest.Speaking to The Telegraph, Bennett claimed that he filed the complaint after consulting the Wolverhampton council after he claimed he was inundated with "AI-generated images of me [that were] quite personal about my appearance.""He was sitting in council meetings taking photographs and videos. Because he was a minor, it was difficult to deal with,” Bennett went on to say about his previous interactions with Fraser.When The Telegraph reached out to West Midlands Police, they declined to disclose why Fraser had been arrested and made no comment about their aggressive conduct towards a teenager.

UK police arrest teen for posting photo of local politician edited to look like a rabbit

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