It is not possible for the macho influencer Andrew Tate (36). First, climate icon Greta Thunberg, 19, gave him a verbal blow below the belt: The teenager skillfully refuted a provocation from the powerhouse on Twitter and made sure that Tate, who wanted to annoy the Swede with his fleet of gas-guzzling sports carts, made a laughingstock on the platform.
But that was just a taste of the problems Tate is now facing. According to the Romanian Ringier portal Libertatea, the former kickboxer has been arrested. The fact that the handcuffs clicked is apparently another consequence of his Twitter quarrel. Tate was arrested Thursday along with his brother Tristan, 34, by Romanian police in connection with the kidnapping and rape of two girls, one of whom was American.
Finally, the enraged misogynist apparently gave the crucial clue. In response to Greta’s embarrassment, he released a two-minute rage video – featuring a pizza box betraying him in the foreground. After the arrest, Thunberg spoke out again via Twitter and made fun of Tate. “That’s what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes,” the climate activist writes mockingly.
The prosecution’s spokeswoman makes it clear that Tate was actually convicted using a pizza box. «These are funny speculations,” she told the dpa news agency.
Six women exploited
The brothers were questioned about the allegations in April and subsequently released. However, the investigation continued and a search warrant was eventually issued for the Tate’s residence in the capital Bucharest. However, according to civil rights lawyer and Harvard lecturer Alejandra Caraballo, 32, Romanian authorities needed proof that Tate was in the country. Therefore, they followed his posts on social media.
According to Libertatea, the two Tates are being held for 24 hours. A criminal case has been launched against the brothers, who have British passports, for human trafficking and rape.
According to the Romanian public prosecutor’s office, there were four suspects in the investigation, according to Reuters news agency. They are accused of forming a criminal gang for the purpose of “recruiting, harboring and exploiting women by forcing them to produce pornographic content for use on relevant paid websites”. Six women have now been found who had been exploited by the suspects. A lawyer for the interviewees told journalists: “Andrew and Tristan Tate have the utmost respect for the Romanian authorities and will support and assist them in any way they can.”
“It Gets Crazier”
“Greta Thunberg didn’t just destroy Andrew Tate with her tweet,” summarizes civil rights activist Caraballo. “She also angered him so much that he accidentally revealed his presence in Romania to the Romanian authorities with his lame comeback video.”
It gets even crazier, notes Caraballo: “Last year, the Council of Europe called on Romania to effectively prosecute human trafficking.” The name of the EU expert group? Group of experts for action against human trafficking. In short: GRETA.
Greta’s legendary tweet is now one of the 25 most popular tweets of all time with 2.9 million likes. He could crack the top ten by the weekend.