Football fan’s ban after secret probe into trans posts
A FOOTBALL fan was banned from Newcastle United matches after she claims a Premier League ‘ Stasi’ unit investigated her gendercritical views.
Linzi Smith, 34, was probed by the secret unit following social media posts she had made about the issue.
It compiled an 11-page dossier – dubbed a ‘Target Profile’ – which also included where she lives, works and walked her dog.
Investigators spent four months working on the file which detailed her ‘associated aliases’ and ‘vulnerabilities’. It was then passed to Northumbria Police who interviewed her under caution.
The Mail understands that Newcastle United acted after concerned fans complained about Ms Smith’s posts, highlighting some where she compared the trans ‘ideology’ to the Nazis and accused an LGBT group of ‘grooming’ children.
Officers took just two hours to inform Ms Smith that she had not committed any crime.
But the club revoked her membership and banned her from matches until 2026.
After losing an appeal to Newcastle
United last month, she is now taking legal action in an attempt to overturn the ban.
Ms Smith, who is gay and promotes lesbian, gay and bisexual rights and women’s rights, argues that her right to exercise gendercritical views is protected in law.
She says the Premier League’s trawl of her personal social media account constituted a breach of data protection laws. Speaking to The Telegraph, Ms Smith said: ‘ I’m struggling to believe this has happened to me.
‘It’s mind-blowing that they have gone to such lengths because I have expressed views to which I am entitled on my personal Twitter account. They have behaved like the Stasi [the former state security service of East Germany] – it was being done so covertly that I didn’t even know what was happening.’
Ms Smith said she felt ‘violated’ by the Premier League’s actions.
Newcastle United started looking into Ms Smith’s personal life after receiving a complaint from a fan who accused her of discriminating against trans people.
Speaking to Toby Young, from The Free Speech Union, Ms Smith added: ‘I was banned for the rest of this season and the next two.
‘I live ten minutes away, I struggle even to come near the ground now to be honest with you. I get upset when I talk about it because I don’t understand where it’s come from. I don’t understand why someone’s got so offended by me just speaking my mind. I don’t get it.
‘I avoid the city now, especially if it’s a match day. If I’m going home, I’ll drive the long way round so I
don’t have to see people. I won’t even come down here and drink anymore... I can’t even bring myself to do that. Every time I come round here now I’m just sick to my stomach.’
The complainant had sent screenshots taken from Ms Smith’s social media account in which she suggested that some transgender people were suffering from mental illness.
The critic said they would feel ‘unsafe’ if they had to ‘share a space’ with someone who was so ‘ openly transphobic and stated that many of Ms Smith’s posts were mocking the trans movement.
In October, Newcastle United emailed Ms Smith to inform her that she was being investigated by Northumbria Police for a possible hate crime offence and that her membership had been suspended.
It is understood that Ms Smith had not done anything to offend anyone during a match, inside the stadium or involving the club.
Days after, Ms Smith was visited by two police officers at her home and she agreed to be interviewed under caution about her tweets for 25 minutes. Two hours later, she received a call from police to inform her that no further action would be taken as she had not committed any offence.
Ms Smith appealed her ban but was told on January 26 that it had been upheld because her tweets ‘constitute harassment’ and go against the club’s equality policy.
‘Behaved like the Stasi’