Man who said he wanted to ‘slit a Muslim’s throat’ jailed for inciting hatred
A man has been jailed for almost two years after saying he wanted to “slit a Muslim’s throat” in a series of Islamophobic tweets following the Manchester Arena attack. The 31-year-old was found guilty of inciting racial hatred.
Rhodenne Chand, from Birmingham, posted 32 tweets following a terrorist attack on Ariana Grande’s concert on May 22 last year that killed 22 and left many more injured .
He was arrested on June 17 last year after a member of the public reported him to the police. West Midlands Police said the tweets encouraged violence against Muslim and Pakistani communities and attacks on mosques.
Superintendent Mat Shaer of West Midlands Police said the messages "left people fearing some of the threats could be carried out by him or his Twitter followers".
He went on: "This case saw the sustained release of offensive, threatening material aimed at Muslim and Pakistani communities − it left people fearing some of the threats could be carried out by him or his Twitter followers.
"The law is careful to try and not penalise expression of opinion, even in strong and possibly offensive terms.
"But Chand's tweets were a much baser expression of animosity towards a section of society and were totally unacceptable."
Chand’s arrest came two days before the Finsbury Park terrorist attack, which saw Darren Osborne plow his van into a crowd of Muslim worshipers outside a mosque. One person was killed in the attack and another nine were injured. Osborne was said to have been radicalized by tweets and posts by far-right figures.
Chand admitted publishing threatening, abusive or insulting material intended to stir up racial hatred and was jailed for 20 months at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday.
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