Teenager quizzed in Wright race case
ARSENAL STAR LABELLED A F**KING MONKEY AND TAKES TO TWITTER TO HIGHLIGHT ONLINE ABUSE
A TRALEE teenager is being investigated under race hate legislation after a series of vile racist messages were sent directly to iconic former Arsenal and England player Ian Wright (pictured).
In a horrendous racist tirade sent via Instagram, the BBC pundit was labelled a ‘f ****** monkey’, a ‘c**n’, and a ‘cotton picking black c***’.
A stunned and upset Wright posted screen-shots of the messages – which were on an Instagram account – on Twitter, where Wright has over 1.7 million followers.
Wright said he is no stranger to racist abuse but he found these messages particularly shocking and described them as ‘dehumanising’ and ‘ humiliating.’
A Twitter account linked to the teenager appeared to respond by saying that his Instagram account had been hacked and someone else had posted the messages. The same account later appeared to add that he had said some racial comments and was “very sorry” about it.
Wright has not made an official complaint. Gardaí launched their own investigation under “diversity and integration strategy” which deals with hate crime. On Monday evening the boy voluntarily attended Tralee Garda Station, where he was interviewed. A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
A TRALEE teenager is being investigated under race hate legislation after a series of vile racist messages were sent directly to iconic former Arsenal and England player Ian Wright.
In a horrendous racist tirade sent to Wright via Instagram on Monday, the BBC Match of the Day pundit was labelled a ‘f ****** monkey’, a ‘c**n’, and a ‘cotton picking black c***’.
The rant also expressed hate for Mr Wright’s family members and threatened to give the soccer star the Coronavirus to kill him.
“Your [sic] like 65 years old,” one message stated, “if I get corona I will cough in your face and give you your death sentence”.
A stunned and upset Wright chose not to ignore the abuse and instead posted screen-shots of the messages – which were on an Instagram account – on Twitter, where Wright has over 1.7 million followers.
The teenager’s Twitter account appeared to respond by saying that his Instagram account had been hacked.
Within hours Mr Wright’s tweet about the abuse was re-tweeted over 17,000 times, with over 16,000 people tweeting their support and condemning the racist attack.
Wright said that he is no stranger to racist abuse but he found these racist messages particularly shocking and described them as ‘dehumanising’ and ‘ humiliating.’
“I know I’m not meant to look at them, but these messages still hit me so hard man,” he wrote.
In another post Wright added: “My energy is positive but I couldn’t turn the other cheek. You do this in public and you’d be sat in jail”.
Speaking on British radio station No Signal on Monday, Wright said he was determined that his racist abuser should face consequences.
“I’ve got a platform where I can reach people. This is happening to people on a daily basis where they can’t do what I did – that’s why I had to call it out,” he said
“We’re dealing with people that need to hide. Platforms like Instagram and Twitter are where they can hide but, what they haven’t understood is, it’s not my platform – it’s everybody who has come in. Something has to be done,” said Wright. He added that the abuse was “relentless”. The teenager’s Twitter account appeared to say that it wasn’t him who had posted the messages but later appeared to add that he had said some racial comments and that he was “very sorry” about it.
“Didn’t think this would even happen I’m very sorry man didn’t even mean it,” the Twitter account stated. “Man I’m sorry bro just take the post down,” said the final tweet.
The teenager’s social media accounts no longer appear to be accessible so his version of events is unclear.
Mr Wright – who was contacted about the abuse by the London Metropolitan Police – has not made an official complaint.
Gardaí launched their own investigation under the force’s “diversity and integration strategy” which deals with hate crime.
On Monday evening the boy voluntarily attended Tralee Garda Station, where he was interviewed about the incident. A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Wright – a prominent anti-racism campaigner who has previously highlighted the role of social media as a vehicle for racist abuse – has reiterated his call for social-media companies to tackle racists and take responsibility for what is posted on their sites.
“I’ll be fighting this one all the way. I don’t want this happening to my kids,” he said.