Click here to read the article
Former Royal Marine and Free Speech Union (FSU) member Jamie Michael was arrested and charged with “stirring up racial hatred” for a speech crime under the Public Order Act after posting a 12-minute Facebook video in the aftermath of the murders encouraging people to share their concerns with elected officials about the risk of allowing undocumented migrants into the country. Buffy Williams, Jamie’s Labour representative in the Welsh Parliament, reported him to the police for a “hate crime” and he was arrested and charged with “stirring up racial hatred”, an offence under the Public Order Act 1986 which carries a maximum sentence of seven years.
The FSU funded Michael’s legal defence, and at his trial in February, it took the jury just 17 minutes to return a unanimous verdict of “Not Guilty”.
Freddie Attenborough, The Critic, 4th March 2025.
