Graham Linehan, an Irish comedy writer and women’s rights activist, was arrested at the UK’s Heathrow Airport by armed police over three tweets that it was alleged were a call to violence.
After his arrest on September 1, he was ordered not to go on X.
His tweets were made when he was in Arizona, in the US, where he moved in 2023 after facing professional setbacks in the UK for his opinion on transgenderism.
Linehan is internationally known for co-creating successful sitcoms such as Father Ted, Black Books and the IT-Crowd.
On his Substack platform, Linehan went into detail on his detainment.
“The moment I stepped off the plane at Heathrow, five armed police officers were waiting. Not one, not two — five. They escorted me to a private area and told me I was under arrest for three tweets.
“In a country where paedophiles escape sentencing, where knife crime is out of control, where women are assaulted and harassed every time they gather to speak, the state had mobilised five armed officers to arrest a comedy writer for this tweet (and no, I promise you, I am not making this up.”
Linehan said he felt he was “treated like a terrorist, locked in a cell like a criminal, taken to hospital because the stress nearly killed me, and banned from speaking online”.
According to the writer, the police treated him well after his arrest and “even arranged for a van to meet me on the tarmac so I didn’t have to be perp-walked through the airport like a terrorist”.
His belt, bag, and electronic devices were all confiscated at the police station and he was putt into a small cell.
During the police interview, he was asked about the tweets which, it was alleged, called for violence.
One from April 20 read: “If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls.”
A second tweet, on April 19, was a picture of a trans rally with the caption: “A photo you can smell.” A third was a follow-up to this tweet and read: “I hate them. Misogynists and homophobes. F*** em.”
According to Linehan, an officer mentioned “trans people” and described them as: “People who feel their gender is different than what was assigned at birth.”
The distressed 57-year-old comedian then had a nurse check on him, who found that his blood pressure was very high, a medical emergency often classified as a hypertensive crisis, exacerbating the risk of heart attack, stroke or other serious afflictions.
When @Glinner landed at Heathrow, he was met by five armed police officers, and immediately arrested.
His ‘crime’? Three gender-critical tweets.
As Graham says in his Substack:
“In a country where paedophiles escape sentencing, where knife crime is out of control, where women… pic.twitter.com/1YDOhtwRRm
— The Free Speech Union (@SpeechUnion) September 2, 2025
Summarising his experience, Linehan said: “I was arrested at an airport like a terrorist, locked in a cell like a criminal, taken to hospital because the stress nearly killed me, and banned from speaking online — all because I made jokes that upset some psychotic crossdressers.
“To me, this proves one thing beyond doubt: The UK has become a country that is hostile to freedom of speech, hostile to women, and far too accommodating to the demands of violent, entitled, abusive men who have turned the police into their personal goon squad.”
Reacting on the story, famous Harry Potter author and women’s rights activist JK Rowling posted on X: “What the f*ck has the UK become? This is totalitarianism. Utterly deplorable.”
X owner Elon Musk saw her post and said: “Police state”.
Journalist Suzanne Moore called the situation “insane”.
“The writer’s detention by armed police is the latest authoritarian move supporting the trans lobby’s crackdown on language,” Moore said.
The UK-based Free Speech Union said it doubted if the arrest and bail conditions were even lawful and said it would back Lenihan.
British journalist and TV personality Piers Morgan said: “What’s happened to Linehan today is absolutely ridiculous. Five armed cops arresting him at Heathrow for tweets mocking the scandal of biological men invading women’s spaces?
“When it comes to free speech, Britain’s turning into North Korea.”
Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick wrote online: “This is ridiculous and a complete waste of police time.
“The police only respond to one in five reported shoplifting offences, but deployed five armed officers to arrest a comedian over three tweets. We desperately need to end this nonsense and go after actual criminals.”
Interesting point on #Glinner’s arrest, especially when you consider that “decapitate terfs” was not considered hate speech by @kaukabstewart or Kirsten Oswald MP (at the time). There’s a clear
disparity between what I and people with a pastel wardrobe are expected to tolerate. https://t.co/tBoh0fCshs pic.twitter.com/9OA7OkxUCG— Elaine Miller, Venus Envy (@GussieGrips) September 2, 2025
Some came out in support of the arrest.
Zack Polanski, the Green Party Leader, said they were “totally unacceptable tweets” and that it was “proportionate to arrest him”. He did admit he did not understand why the officers were armed.
A spokesperson for the police confirmed the arrest to British media.
“The man in his 50s was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence. This is in relation to posts on X,” they said.
“The arrest was made by officers from the MPS Aviation Unit. It is routine for officers policing airports to carry firearms. These were not drawn or used at any point during the arrest.”
The police admitted the officers became concerned for his health and took him to the hospital and that he had been bailed pending further investigation.
Transgender activist Sophia Brooks has accused Linehan of harassment on social media and damaging her mobile phone in October, which Linehan denied.
Linehan faces trial for these two separate charges at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on September 4.
