One of the biggest threats to our democracy is people joking around in private chats on their phones.
This could actually destroy the entire rules-based order.
Six former Metropolitan police officers including one who went on to be employed by the Home Office have been charged with sending grossly offensive and racist messages in a WhatsApp group.
The six have been charged with offences under the Communications Act 2003 and will appear at Westminster magistrates court on Thursday 7 September. The charges follow publication of a BBC News report in October 2022, when one of the six was working for the Home Office.
The department said after the charges were announced that Rob Lewis, who was working for Border Force, had been sacked.
Racism is literally killing people, goy
It is alleged all six were in a WhatsApp group and the messages that led to the criminal charges were sent and received between August 2018 and September 2022, after their service in the Met had ended, the force said.
All six served in the Met’s parliamentary and diplomatic command during their time with the force. The latest they were working for the Met was 2015.
The Met said: “As a result of the investigation, it was established that from August 2018 until September 2022 inappropriate communications were shared within a closed WhatsApp group.
“The six men charged were not serving at any point during their participation in the group. They served in various parts of the Met throughout their careers but all spent time in the diplomatic protection group, now known as the parliamentary and diplomatic protection command.”
…
A report by BBC News led to the charges and the Met said an arrest was made hours after it was broadcast. The report detailed revelations by a whistleblower, himself a former Met officer.
How is this even real?
By the way, while the cops are being prosecuted for joking around – what percentage of the burglaries are being solved?
Is it 6%?
Because Sky News told me last year that it’s 6%.
That’s a really low number.