A British man was arrested after posting an expletive-laden Facebook rant about gays being lined up and shot.
Paul Gair, a 42-year-old father of three, posted the violent, homophobic comments in July under a local news outlet's story about the upcoming Newcastle's Northern Pride festival.
“If your parents were faggots, you horrible gay c***s wouldn’t of been born! Should be lined up and machine gunned, vile disgusting c***s!” he wrote under one Chronicle post. Under another post, he wrote that gays should be "slaughtered."
Organizers of Northern Pride were alerted to the post and became worried about the safety of attendees, according to the Chronicle. When Gair was arrested, he told police he was “not a homophobe and posted something he now regretted" and blamed the act on a "bad day." He pleaded guilty to sending a message of an offensive, indecent, obscene or menacing manner and was fined $470, plus $190 in other charges.
In the United Kingdom, communications sent via social media can be considered criminal offenses if, for example, they pose a credible threat, target specific individuals or are grossly offensive, indecent, obscene, menacing or false, according to the Crown Prosecution Service of England and Wales. The offense is committed by sending the message; no one has to see the message or be offended by it.
Thousands attend the annual Northern Pride event, which is held in July.
h/t Gay Star News