“Father Ted” co-creator and vocal anti-trans writer Graham Linehan was arrested at Heathrow airport on Monday on suspicion of inciting violence via social media posts. Among those posts was one encouraging people to punch trans women “in the balls.”
Linehan arrived in London on a flight from the U.S. — specifically from Arizona, according to the writer — and was met on the tarmac by multiple police officers. He later wrote an entire Substack post describing the incident, saying he was greeted by five armed officers.
“The arrest was made by officers from the MPS Aviation Unit,” a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police said in a statement to media. “It is routine for officers policing airports to carry firearms. These were not drawn or used at any point during the arrest.”
Linehan was later taken to a hospital after police became concerned for his blood pressure following the arrest. According to Linehan himself, he became distressed during the incident.
“When they began reading me my rights, the red mist descended and I came close to becoming one of those police body-cam videos where you can’t believe the perp isn’t just doing what he’s told,” he wrote.
Three posts to X sparked the arrest, including one that 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.”
In his Substack post, Linehan complained further about trans people, and said that “the ‘punch’ tweet was a serious point made with a joke,” meant to call out the height difference between people.
“The bollocks being closer to punch level for a woman defending her rights and certainly not a call to violence,” he wrote.
Linehan also wrote that there was just one bail condition: he is “not to go on Twitter.” As of this writing, Linehan’s last post to the platform was indeed early Monday morning, asking, “Can we make #TheoUpton trend?”
Earlier this year, Linehan pleaded not guilty to charges of harassment and criminal damage against an 18-year-old trans woman.
