Right-Wing Influencer Arrested on Human Trafficking Charges After Online Spat With Greta Thunberg
Supporters of climate leader Greta Thunberg cheered late Thursday into Friday after Andrew Tate, the latest right-wing influencer to attack Thunberg online, was arrested in Romania after bragging to the activist about owning dozens of emissions-heavy vehicles.
The arrest—on human trafficking, rape, and organized crime charges—came shortly after Tate addressed Thunberg in a video uploaded to Twitter in which he was holding a pizza box from a Romanian pizza chain, although authorities in Romania "said that it was not the case that Tate's arrest had been made as a result of the pizza boxes," according to The Guardian.
Tate and Thunberg's interactions this week began after Tate addressed her on Twitter Tuesday regarding his "33 cars" and asked her to provide an email address "so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions."
"Email me at smalldickenergy@getalife.com," replied Thunberg.
\u201cyes, please do enlighten me. email me at smalldickenergy@getalife.com\u201d— Greta Thunberg (@Greta Thunberg) 1672225626
Thunberg's response provoked Tate to post a video in which he, clad in a red bathrobe and smoking a cigar, said the Swedish climate action advocate "doesn't realize she's been programmed" and is "a slave of the matrix" before calling her "hate-filled" and "bitter."
"Please bring me pizza and make sure that the boxes are not recycled," Tate said to someone off-camera, who handed him two boxes labeled "Jerry's Pizza."
Romanian authorities, who have been investigating Tate and his brother, Tristan, since April, said that the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) mobilized to arrest them "after seeing, including on social networks, that they were together in Romania."
"The authorities waited for the right moment to catch the Tate brothers, who were always out of the country," reported the Romanian news agency Gandul.
Although authorities said the pizza boxes were not what tipped them off and didn't confirm whether the video had been part of what they observed when examining Tate's recent social media presence, Thunberg joked, "This is what happens when you don't recycle your pizza boxes."
Earlier this year, Tate was banned from several social media platforms for posting violent and misogynistic content in which he described how he would assault a woman and said women who are raped are partially responsible for their attacks.
Tate and his brother are accused of recruiting victims who they forced to perform pornography "through physical violence and mental coercion." The Romanian investigation into the two brothers began in April when the U.S. embassy received a tip that a 21-year-old American woman was being held at their mansion in Bucharest against her will.
Tate and his brother were reportedly detained for 24 hours after the arrest. Reuters reported Friday that prosecutors asked a court in Bucharest to extend Tate's detention to 30 days.