After Twitter posts, social media personality Andrew Tate arrested on rape charges
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanian news outlets are reporting that divisive social media personality Andrew Tate has been arrested on charges of human trafficking and rape.
The reports said that Tate and his brother Tristan were detained late Thursday in the Ilfov area north of Romanian capital Bucharest.
Earlier this week, Andrew Tate posted a video on Twitter of a mountainous region of Romania, the Eastern European country where he is reported to have lived for the last five years. He previously was banned from various social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views and hate speech.
Tate also was embroiled this week in a war of words with 19-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg after he tweeted a picture of himself standing next to a Bugatti and bragged that he owned 33 cars.
Romania’s anti-organized crime agency said two British citizens and two Romanians are accused of being part of an organized crime group, human trafficking and rape. The agency says the British citizens recruited women who were subjected to “acts of physical violence and mental coercion,” sexually exploited and forced to perform pornographic acts intended to reap “important financial benefits.” The statement didn’t name Tate.
The former professional kickboxer is a British-American citizen.
On Friday, Tate, who is known to express various conspiratorial views, tweeted that “The Matrix sent their agents,” without elaborating.
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