A 12-year-old British boy was arrested after allegedly sending racist messages to a soccer player.
The boy is suspected of sending racist messages on social media to Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha, who is from the Ivory Coast, before a game on Sunday, the BBC reported.
The West Midlands Police Department announced on Sunday that officers arrested the boy.
“#ARRESTED| We were alerted to a series of racist messages sent to a footballer today and after looking into them and conducting checks, we have arrested a boy. The 12-year-old from #Solihull has been taken to custody. Thanks to everyone who raised it. Racism won’t be tolerated,” the department said in a tweet.
#ARRESTED| We were alerted to a series of racist messages sent to a footballer today and after looking into them and conducting checks, we have arrested a boy.
The 12-year-old from #Solihull has been taken to custody.
Thanks to everyone who raised it. Racism won’t be tolerated. pic.twitter.com/oFxBUvdtV1
— West Midlands Police – #StayAlert (@WMPolice) July 12, 2020
“It is very sad that, on the day of a game, a player wakes up to this cowardly and despicable abuse. It’s right Wilf has made people aware of it, and I don’t think this is something you should keep quiet about,” Zaha’s manager, Roy Hodgson, said of the messages.
In England, “Everyone has the right to freedom of expression,” according to Article 10 of the Human Rights Act, but citizens “may be subject to formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society.”
The Premier League also said of the controversy: “This behaviour is completely unacceptable, and the Premier League stands alongside Wilfried Zaha in opposing this, and discrimination in any form.”
Protests sparked by the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day in Minneapolis have spread across the world in recent weeks. The United Kingdom has seen thousands of protesters in various cities, including London, holding signs against police brutality and racism.
Many of the protests in the United States and in other countries have been peaceful, but acts of vandalism and destruction have also broken out in some places. In the U.K., protesters have defaced or called for the removal of statues of historical leaders such as Winston Churchill.
