Birmingham man jailed for anti-Islam Twitter hate
- Published
Rhodenne Chand told officers he was "venting" after the Manchester and London Borough Market terror attacks
A man who posted a string of Islamophobic tweets in the wake of the Manchester Arena attack has been jailed for stirring up racial hatred.
Rhodenne Chand, from Birmingham, posted 32 tweets over a few days after the bombing in May 2017, police said.
Supt Mat Shaer of West Midlands Police said the messages "left people fearing some of the threats could be carried out by him or his Twitter followers".
Chand, 31, was jailed for 20 months at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday.
He had admitted publishing threatening, abusive or insulting material intended to stir up racial hatred.
'Disgusted at himself'
Chand, of Luce Close, Castle Vale, was arrested on 17 June 2017 after a member of the public reported the tweets to police.
Some of the messages encouraged violence against Muslims and for mosques to be attacked, while in one Chand claimed he wanted to "slit a Muslim's throat".
Chand told officers he was "venting" in the aftermath of the Manchester and London Borough Market attacks and had stopped using Twitter, police said.
Officers said Chand admitted he "felt disgusted at himself for writing the posts".
Supt Shaer said: "This case saw the sustained release of offensive, threatening material aimed at Muslim and Pakistani communities − it left people fearing some of the threats could be carried out by him or his Twitter followers.
"The law is careful to try and not penalise expression of opinion, even in strong and possibly offensive terms.
"But Chand's tweets were a much baser expression of animosity towards a section of society and were totally unacceptable."