He has been released under investigation
A 21-year-old man has been arrested in relation to a series of hate crime messages he sent on Twitter throughout 2020.
A Met Police Twitter account providing updates on Chelsea FC announced on Monday that Met Police Football Unit officers, assisted by members of the Nottingham force, arrested a man at a Retford address under the Malicious Communications Act.
The offensive tweets were brought to the police's attention by Chelsea Football Club, who helped to identify the suspect.
"The male was interviewed at a police station and released under investigation," the short thread concluded.
In response to the news of the arrest, Chelsea posted a statement on Twitter, saying: "We welcome today’s arrest which shows that hateful messages shared on social media do have consequences.
"We continue to work closely with the police to support their investigations on this important issue."
https://twitter.com/ChelseaFC/status/1358785155037503488
Inspector Matt Ashmead from the Metropolitan Police's Central Football Unit, added: "This action proves that the internet is no safe refuge for trolls to target people with hateful, offensive or racist abuse.
"Online abuse is not victimless and we will look to identify those responsible and take action."
There has been a notable increase in incidents of racist abuse directed at footballers being reported and highlighted by players and fans in recent weeks.
Marcus Rashford and
Reece James both tweeted about the abuse they have received after matches, while
Antonio Rudiger spoke to Chelsea's website about his experience of racism following Frank Lampard's sacking.
Manchester United's Anthony Martial and Axel Tuanzebe have also been on the receiving end of hateful comments, prompting the club to issue a statement condemning the behaviour of their fans.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKuIEweKjOQ/
Southampton FC also issued a statement after debutant Alex Jankewitz was racially abused following the club's 9-0 defeat to Manchester United.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CK1-w22q7Qt/
