Self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate was arrested in Romania days ago on charges of human trafficking, rape, and being part of an organised crime group. Much of the glory of the take-down can be attributed to none other than climate activist Greta Thunberg.
Tate, a British citizen who was previously banned from various social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views and hate speech, was detained along with his British brother Tristan in the Ilfov area north of Romania’s capital, Bucharest.
Two other suspects, who were Romanian, were also in custody.
Reports said that Romanian police had been after Tate but couldn’t prove he was in Romania and didn’t have an address.
Tate’s fate began to unravel when on December 27, he tweeted at Thurburg saying, “Hello @GretaThunberg I have 33 cars.”
“My Bugatti has a w16 8.0L quad turbo. My TWO Ferrari 812 competizione have 6.5L v12s. This is just the start.
“Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions.”
Thurburg responded, saying: “Yes, please do enlighten me. Email me at [email protected].”
Tate, of course, couldn’t leave the argument there and posted a two-minute video responding. A pizza box was featured in the video, and many speculate it was how Romanian police managed to track him down.
On December 18, Elon Musk lifted a five-year Twitter ban inflicted on Tate by the social media’s previous owners as part of his “freedom of speech” policy.
Inadvertently, Musk aided his arrest.
Tate’s arrest was like a late Christmas present for many.
One Twitter user said, “Andrew Tate with the super last minute entry for biggest self-inflicted L [loss] of 2022”.
“This is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes,” Thurburg tweeted on December 30, the day of Tate’s arrest.
If you agree with what Tate says online or not, I think we can all agree that human trafficking and rape are not good behaviours – and they’re illegal.
Tate is also a glistening example of what happens when your ego and bad behaviour gets ahead of you.
In a world where some may feel that women’s rights and safety are being ripped out from under their feet, Tate’s arrest is a big win.
In some of his viral clips, Tate states his view that women, or as he says “females”, belong in the home, can’t drive, and are a man’s property.
He also thinks rape victims must “bear responsibility” for their attacks and dates women aged 18 to 19 because he can “make an imprint” on them, according to videos posted online.
A video posted by a Tate fan of his arrest shows him saying “the Matrix has attacked me”. It raked in one million views.
“It’s [his arrest] because he started telling the truth about corrupt elite,” one commenter said.
If the world surrounding Tate can stand for anything, it’s just how out of hand and extreme people have become with some internet fame.
Tate is a symptom of an online wild west. He and his followers have made it come to life and inflicted very real harm on people.
Likewise, Tate sits in a real jail, not just an online one.
