A fired British cop and former guard is facing jail time for posting a ‘highly offensive’ meme about George Floyd on WhatsApp.
Floyd, who died after kneeling on the neck of US police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of second-degree manslaughter, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter during his arrest in Minneapolis, became one of the ten memes he was told. being “extremely offensive”, which former police officer James Watts shared in a group chat.
Sending such messages is a violation under the Communications Act 2003 in the United Kingdom, where the right to freedom of expression is only guaranteed within very few parameters set out in the European Convention on Human Rights and has a condition above all else.
Article 10 of the said convention states that individuals “have the freedom to receive and impart information and ideas without interference and limitations by public authority”, but the exercise of this right “may be subject to such formalities. the disclosure of information received in confidence as conditions of limitation or punishment prescribed by law and necessary in a democratic society to prevent disorder or crime, to protect health or morals, to protect the reputation or rights of others, in the interest of national security, territorial integrity or public safety; protection”.
Prosecutor Richard Purch told the Birmingham Magistrates Court:[f]outside of us [the memes shared by the accused officer] Openly mentions George Floyd and continues [Black Lives Matter] made protests and to some extent mocked his death,” he said, adding that the remaining six had become “more general racist memes.”
A express and star The court report was unclear about the actual content of the messages, only mentioning that one showed “a white dog in Ku Klux Klan guise” while the other showed images of “kneeling mat and a monkey” and “a satire”. Line from the movie Jaws.
Watts pleaded guilty to 10 counts of sending highly offensive or threatening messages on a public network, but co-defendant Joanne Jinks, who currently serves with the West Mercia Police, pleaded not guilty on both charges. He will appear in court in August.
Watts is now awaiting sentencing in June, when Deputy Chief Justice Tan Ikram called “the aggravating circumstances in this case” and announced that he had “really” not suspended his sentence.[t]When dealing with police officers, the court should bear in mind the substantial damage to reputation that such offenses can cause.
Source: Breitbart
